Memories of You
by Callisto Star
Summary: Goku/Usa. A first love is always treasured, even across dimensions. And after the Joy of Life and the Pain of Duty, one thing remains... Love... R & R. FINALLY UPDATED!!!
1. Prologue

AN: Calli-chan runs in and jumps up and down insanely. She points to the computer, with Microsoft Word up on the screen, and hugs herself happily. She pushes the enter button countless times just for fun. She goes to ff.net and squeals with joy at her fics with SPACING!!!! YIPEE!!!  
  
It's true! I finally got Microsoft Word, so now you don't need to ruin your vision reading my fics. YAY!!! I'm FREEEEE!!!!!  
  
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. I do not own DBZ or SM, but this fic contains a unique idea of mine and NO COPYING. Thanx! Onto the fic!  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
  
  
My feet dangle in the cool clear water. My hair is out of its usual style and pulled back into a simple ponytail. I see my reflection in the waters, the waters that show only truth, and I can't help but notice the sorrow that seems permanently etched into my face. I am alone now, and alone I am destined to be forever.  
  
  
  
  
  
What would Daddy think of me now? Would he be ashamed of me, now that some call me the Shi no Tenshi? I only got to be with my father for a few short years, but I still miss the only parent I ever knew. I long for someone, anyone. But especially, even more than my father, I long for *him*.  
  
We had promised that we would find each other again someday. That only shows how hollow and empty childhood promises can be. It will never happen now. I will always be alone.  
  
  
  
I stand and shake all wistful thoughts of him and my other life from my head. The universe needs me; I have no time for personal wishes. I slip my feet into my sandals, pick up my staff, and head away.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The waters began to pulsate and glow. Little did I know that some spoke of these waters granting the deepest desires of the purest of hearts. Little did I know that after all the suffering I had caused, my heart still shone with purity. Little did I know how rapidly my life could change.  
  
  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
Kinda short, but it is a prologue after all. Try to guess who her father is! I assure you that it's VERY unique. ^_^  
  
You are the ink of the author's pen, so please review. It gives me inspiration. Arigato. Ja ne! ~Calli-chan  
  
P.S. Oh yeah, if you wanna be part of a little 'alert' system that when I upload new stuff, I will email you (not for spacing, just for truly new stuff), then email me at Callistostar786@hotmail.com or say so in a review (leaving your email). Thanks. 


	2. PART I: MY LIFE

AN: Well, nobody guessed 'em all right, but I never expected you too. It seems some of you haven't read too many Cosmos fics; that was Cosmos last chapter. But now that I reread it, she does seem like Pluto. Maybe I *should* write that other fic I was gonna do for her. Hmmm... Thanks all!  
  
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. THIS CHAPTER BEGINS A LONG FLASHBACK.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********************************************  
  
**************************************************************************** ***********************************************  
  
I was always small for my age. Daddy used to call me his little Bunny.  
  
I don't remember my mother. Little more than a year after I was born, she and Daddy separated; she insisted Daddy was too concerned with fighting and didn't care about me.  
  
She took me with her when she left. I do remember the crash though. I remember the voices, the terrified voices, as the plane that was supposed to take us to the opposite side of the world, crashed. There was only one survivor, saved by some sort of miracle. Me.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
I was brought back to my father. I can't remember how, it seems like a dream. But I seem to always remember green, and a tall figure with a staff holding me. Daddy was very sad when he heard what happened, but from then on he raised me as best he could.  
  
  
  
I waddled along after him as he showed me his moves and spoke of his countless world titles. Most of the time, I wouldn't pay much attention, having heard the same stories countless times, so I usually played with the turtles while he spoke. He tried to train me a few times, but he was always too soft on me and we never got far. What would he think of me today?  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
When I was about 5, Puu came. She spoke privately to my father, and told him about my mission in another world. Puu must have amazing persuasive powers, because I didn't think Daddy would let me go. He reluctantly agreed when she promised to bring me to visit at least once a year.  
  
  
  
  
  
So from then on, I lived with Pluto and the Outers. At first I cried often, wanting to be with my Daddy, but Puu refused. The most she would relent to was to show me and image of him with her garnet orb [or w/e its called].  
  
Eventually I got used to taking care of myself. My room was slightly smaller than the other bedrooms in the mansion (but that is still large) but more homely and lavishly furnished. Haruka and Michiru bought me a pile of stuffed animals, mostly bunnies and cats, for a welcome gift that sat in a corner. I was happy.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
They taught me many things. Haruka gave me piano lessons and Michiru taught me to sew while speaking French. I only saw Setsuna occasionally; I learned later that she spent most of her time guarding the Time Gates.  
  
There was no talk of senshi business or the silver Millennium or anything. I had no idea. But to the innocent child I was then, ignorance was bliss. At the end of the year, Setsuna arrived and we headed back to visit Daddy for a day.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
He was overjoyed to see me. I was very surprised when I first arrived to see a purple turtle shell on his back. He looked older too, and was growing a beard. But before I could ask, he threw off the shell, grabbed a coat, and called the Nimbus to head to the main land.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
I had so much fun that day. He took me to the amusement park, and we rode all the rides together, and he won me prizes and bought me cotton candy. Then we went to the toy store and he bought the stuffed animal I wanted (a pink bunny) and then we went to the movies. He bought me dinner at a fast food restaurant and I got to swim in the ball pit and play on the indoor playground.  
  
But all too soon, the day was over. Pluto arrived as the red sun disappeared over the horizon. The stars twinkled to life and she seemed even more mysterious. Daddy looked heartbroken. I thought I saw a tear slide down his face, but it might have been a trick of the light. I knew he, like me, didn't want this happy day to end.  
  
While I chatted with Turtle on the shore, he pleaded with Setsuna. I caught stray words such as "don't leave me", "can't take it", "my bunny", and "alone". As a child, I didn't think much of it, but as I got older I began to understand his pain. He emerged defeated , looking even older.  
  
"Pack your things, Usagi," he said simply. "It's time you head home." I didn't realize until later that he no longer referred to the isle as my home.  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **********************************************  
  
**************************************************************************** ***********************************************  
  
There were some subtle hints about the Dad in this chapter (basically none last chap). If you haven't seen certain episodes, you might not get this at all. I'll tell you which next chap. cause they'll probably all be revealed then. And if you get the Dad, You'll probably get the guy. So try your luck at a guess!!!  
  
Thanx for reading, hope you liked it, please review! 


	3. New beginnings

AN: WOW!!!!! Great job everyone, I think just about everybody got it right! Amazing!!! Spectacular!!! Superb!!!! Sorry this wasn't out sooner, you deserved it. Most peeps said the guy was Goku... well, we shall see. Who says I can't make a Krillin pairing? And what about Oolong? ::shudders:: Well, that *would* be different, but I wasn't planning on that yet.  
  
Larky-chan – no, you're not stupid, you're right!  
  
Ankle - gomen nasi, but this is not a Hotaru fic. Hope you'll read it anyway! Our favorite firefly will probably come in in the future, but for now she won't.  
  
Moonlady – its ok!!! You were closer than you think. Read on…  
  
Kei – Callisto-sama am I? Actually I'm fine with just Calli-chan. But domo arigato for your lovely review! Chapters will be getting longer, its just that the first ones were more of an introduction. But your right about the pairing. They have so much in common, it's amazing!  
  
  
  
Anyways, if anyone steals my idea for how this pairing came to be (I think I can safely admit that it is Usa/Goku- to the disappointment of some and joy of others) as in the whole thing with her father, then--  
  
::Suddenly Hiiro appears and points his gun at the audience:: "Omae o korusu"  
  
All sweatdrop. "Um, I wasn't gonna be that threatening, Hii-chan."  
  
Hiiro: ...  
  
ANYWAY, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. Thank you EternalMoonPrincess for helping me out with Lunch's name. I knew I needed to listen closer to Dragonball! Domo arigato!  
  
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********************************************  
  
**************************************************************************** ***********************************************  
  
The following years were all similar. Daddy would always try to cram as much fun as possible into a single day. I didn't realize it, but I began to think of him more as a favorite uncle then my father. Then Pluto would some and he'd have to let me go again and again.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
When I turned 7, he explained to me about the turtle shell and said he'd decided to become a turtle hermit. He also always wore sunglasses now and his head was bald. His remaining hair was white and his wrinkles seemed to multiply.  
  
  
  
During my visit when I was 9, I noticed a strange magazine in a corner. I was shocked to see a scantily dressed girl on the cover. Daddy quickly hid it from my sight, but like the wrinkles, the magazines began to multiply.  
  
  
  
At 10, my senshi training began, though I didn't realize what it was then. The Outers trained me in physical and mental strength. Martial arts. Meditation. Balance of body and mind. By the end of two years, I was a decent martial artist and excellent with meditation. Setsuna knew it was time to begin the real training.  
  
  
  
"Things will be changing around here," she told me just before my twelfth birthday. "Pack some extra clothes for your visit. It will be longer than usual."  
  
Indeed it was, but I didn't understand until afterward why. Setsuna knew. I had reached a bend in the road of life. This would be my last visit to my father for many years, if not forever.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
When I first arrived, it seemed the same as any visit. There was the house, the same house I'd visited for the past 7 years and lived at before that. The same pealing roof and creaky porch. Same windows. Same door. Then I looked around. Something *was* different- where was the island? The house now sat in a valley with mountains in the distance. What happened to the little island in the middle of the ocean?  
  
"This can't be the same place," I insisted.  
  
Pluto simply smiled mysteriously. "Your father will be returning home shortly. You will understand then." Without another word, she disappeared, though I knew she would still be watching over me, as always.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
I sat down on the steps and waited. I thought for a moment that I had been abandoned in this strange place because Pluto didn't want to care for me anymore. Suddenly the door opened and a blue haired woman stepped out, humming to herself. She dropped the laundry she was holding and let out a short scream when she saw me. After the initial shock, she recovered quickly as I smiled sweetly.  
  
"Little girl, what are you doing here all alone?" she asked with maternal concern.  
  
"Hello, my name's Usagi. I'm waiting for my Daddy."  
  
The lady smiled. "Well I'm Lunch. Does your Daddy live near here?"  
  
"Uh huh, he lives in this house."  
  
Lunch looked totally confused. "Well... ah... how 'bout you come inside. I made a nice breakfast for the guys, but you can have some."  
  
She led me inside. To my innocent childhood mind, she immediately took the place of the mother I never knew. We chatted over milk and pancakes and I could tell that she had also taken a liking to me.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
Time passed unnoticed by us. It seemed suddenly that we heard the front door open and the clamor of several pairs of feet.  
  
"--only twelve days until the tournament," a familiar voice was saying.  
  
"Oh Master, will we be ready?" said a nervous, almost sly voice.  
  
"Course we will, Krillin," said another more cheerful voice. "After all, we've been training for months under the best martial arts master in the world."  
  
The first quietly laughed that laugh I knew so well.  
  
As they rounded the bend and entered the kitchen, I couldn't help myself. After all, it had been a year since I'd seen him. "Daddy!" I yelled, throwing myself at him.  
  
  
  
Everyone was shocked to say the least. I knew Lunch definitely hadn't expected this. The two boys were covered with dirt and had turtle shells on their backs. The bald guy's eyes were popping and the one with the spiky hair scratched his head. Daddy was surprised. His face reddened from embarrassment, but he smiled and picked me up.  
  
"Hello Bunny."  
  
Everyone else fell over.  
  
"But Master Roshi," said the bald cue ball. "What is she talking about?"  
  
The spiky haired one looked totally lost.  
  
"Uh, he he. [Insert Master Roshi trademark laugh.] This is Usagi. She's, uh, she's my daughter."  
  
Everyone fell over again.  
  
"Wow, I had no idea you were married!" exclaimed Lunch.  
  
"But Master Roshi," said spiky hair. "If you're married, why did we need to go get Lunch? And why do you always look at pictures of girls--"  
  
Daddy clamped his hand over the boy's mouth and smiled nervously. "Uh, he he. Usagi, I'd like you to meet Krillin and Goku. I'm training them for the World Martial Arts tournament in a few days."  
  
"Wow Daddy, can I come?"  
  
"But you won't be here."  
  
"Puu is letting me stay longer this year."  
  
"Really?" His face seemed to light up a bit. "Sure you can come!"  
  
"I mean, can I fight in it?"  
  
"Why would you wanna do that?"  
  
"Puu and Haruka and Michiru have been training me. I'm really good now, and Haruka says I'm a good sparring partner [that would be a big complement from her]. Oh please Daddy, please please please please please please pleeeeeaaaaase." I gave him my best puppy dog face.  
  
At first I thought surely, he'd give in, but then his face became more serious. He addressed me almost as if I was asking to be his pupil. "Well, we'll have to see what you've got."  
  
I cheered; the boys were stunned and lost.  
  
"We were just coming in for our morning break," continued Daddy. "But you can come when we go out again and we'll see what you're made of."  
  
I cheered again as Lunch served the breakfast.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
"Alright, Usagi, let's see how you do against Krillin."  
  
I got into a fighting stance. Krillin, or Cueball, looked confused.  
  
"But Master, we haven't practiced any moves yet. We've only been plowing with bare hands, delivering milk, helping at the construction site, escaping sharks, dinosaurs, and bees, and--"  
  
"Just do it Krillin," said Daddy.  
  
He tried to mimic my stance, but I could see that it was flawed and he was nervous. I used this to my advantage.  
  
I threw fist after fist, kick after kick. For a beginner, he blocked quite well. But he couldn't seem to build up the courage to attack. He was strong, but had little faith in his abilities. When he did attempt a punch or attack, I always dodged. He was fast, but I was much quicker. Within five minutes, he was down and I was victorious.  
  
"Good try, Krillin," said Daddy as I helped him up. My father mused over my sudden increase in ability. "Let's try you against Goku."  
  
"Wow, cool! Master thanks!" I could tell already that he was one of those types who, if he had even a minute of free time, would spar just for the fun of it. I also suddenly realized how closely he had watched the first fight. He matched my stance exactly.  
  
  
  
I charged first. Haruka always said my speed was my forte, but he seemed very fast also. I couldn't land a punch, nor could he. We matched each other blow for blow. I'd throw a punch only to be met with his fist, an elbow with his elbow, a knee with his knee.  
  
In the end, he seemed to slow. The shell looked heavy and seemed to be weighing him down. Haruka had made me train with weights on, so I only felt lighter and speedier. But before I could be declared the ultimate winner, my father called for us to stop.  
  
"Enough, enough! Very good, very excellent all of you. Usagi, I definitely didn't expect this. I should have been the one to train you, but as it is I will just have to complete the task."  
  
I jumped up and down and laughed with glee. I had passed the test! My famous Daddy was gonna train me! Daddy just sighed. Now he had three pupils to educate in the complex art.  
  
**************************************************************************** **********************************************  
  
**************************************************************************** ***********************************************  
  
Next time the training begins. How'd you like this chapter? Please review- you are the ink for every author's pen. Thank you everyone!  
  
Also, should I retitle this its Japanese translation- Omoide no Anata, I believe. And Kei-chan, how am I doing? I'm on page 6 now!!!  
  
Until the next time I can type, Ja ne.  
  
~Calli-chan 


	4. Berries

AN: Gomen nasi minna-chan!!! Sorry this took so long. I have no free time any more, so I'm using my bit of extra time over Break to update. To make matters worse, I lost a hunk of skin off my finger at practice yesterday (which has replaced school for a week- 8 to 2 every day) so it is hard to type. But I couldn't let you down!!!  
  
Arigato everyone who read, but especially LadyS, solarmistress17(Yes, the will be an interesting part- when I finally get to writing it ^^;;), erikatufts, Little one, Nikko S.P., Galexz (Usa is twelve- see the beginning of ch. 3), and Bree. I love those who review!!!  
  
Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. "..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Punch! Twirl. Bend. Kick from behind.  
  
Everyone else was taking a late afternoon rest, now that the day's work was over. But I was too excited to sit still. I couldn't wait for the real training to begin. Sure, it was hard milk to deliver milk while escaping monsters, to plow with your bare hands, and to do construction work that should have been the work of machines (and Goku said Daddy gave them a break today!), but I had been trained well. Plus, Daddy hadn't given me my turtle shell weight yet, so I still felt extra light.  
  
I continued my spar with an invisible opponent. Krillin was sleeping and I think Goku ran off to find more food. Daddy watched me intently.  
  
"Your endurance is amazing for such a small girl, Usagi," commented Daddy.  
  
I slowed down and plopped myself on the ground below him. "My sensei were all experienced martial artists themselves. Haruka-san made sure my endurance was almost as strong as my speed."  
  
"She did a fine job of it."  
  
"Thank you, Da- I mean, Master."  
  
I had been instructed not to call Daddy "Daddy" any more (though I still thought of him that way). He also stopped calling me "Bunny". Now that I was his pupil, he was my master, and I had to refer to him as "Master Roshi". It was a change that I was having trouble adjusting to.  
  
"So how long will you be with us, Usagi?" he asked.  
  
I smiled. "Pluto will come for me the night of the next full moon." I looked up at the waxing crescent that hung dimly in the late day sky. It would be more than a week, a fortnight at most. I sighed and once again began to wonder why Puu had granted me this rare gift.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
The setting sun cast her brilliant colors across the sky as she lowered herself below the horizon. I was in the forest meditating. A brook babbled beside me, and it seemed to sparkle with happiness. The birds called their farewells to the sun, while the creatures of the night awoke. I found the peace I was looking for in this tranquil scene, celebrating life. I was at complete peace. Nothing could ruin my serenity. Except perhaps--  
  
"Whatcha doin'?"  
  
A voice broke my concentration. I fell from where I was hovering a foot off the ground and tumbled to the forest floor. A spiky haired boy with a goofy grin just starred at me.  
  
"Oww..."  
  
"How'd you do that?"  
  
I looked up at him, rubbing my butt. "What?"  
  
"You were flying, 'cept you weren't."  
  
"I was meditating."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well..." I pondered for a minute. It hadn't taken me long to master, so it should be easy to teach someone else. "I'll teach you!" How wrong I was.  
  
"Wow! Cool!" He plopped down on the ground beside me, mimicking my position. He looked at me curiously, wondering what to do next. It was then I realized that there was something purplish smeared around his lips and hands. It looked like he *had* been eating. Complete with his odd hair, it made quite a comical scene. I quietly giggled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing." I wondered how best to begin, so I tried to explain it to him. "Well... when you meditate, you kinda go deep within yourself and leave the outside world behind. I can't exactly tell you *how* to do it, because it's different for everyone. For me, I find it easiest to chose a place that's naturally pretty, and I just feel peaceful."  
  
"That's cause you're pretty."  
  
I looked down at him, half shocked, half confused, half pleased. [AN: Now we know why Usa always failed math. ^^;; ] No one had ever said anything like that to me before, except maybe Daddy, and I felt sure that for whatever reason, Haruka wouldn't like it.  
  
"That's what Bulma told me to say," he continued. "She said, 'Every girl's pretty, Goku, even if you don't think so. And the first thing you should say is to tell her that she's pretty.' Did I wait too long, Usagi- san?"  
  
I giggled. "Iie, Arigato Goku-san. But you've gotta call me Usa- sensei now cause I'm teaching you to meditate, remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah, right." He scrambled back into position. "Now what?"  
  
"Try to push the outer world away."  
  
He scrunched up his eyes and his body tensed. I could tell he was concentrating too hard. "Um, Usa-sensei... nothing's happening."  
  
"Be patient and loosen up. Don't be so tense; just let it come."  
  
He relaxed a bit, but he was still having a lot of problems.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
Long after dark, we headed back, having accomplished nothing except filling our stomachs. Both our mouths and hands were purple from the berries he had found.  
  
  
  
I think meditation was perhaps the only weakness I ever found in him. He had trouble keeping his mind focused but still relaxed, and he was constantly jumpy.  
  
Although the results of our sessions weren't very obvious, they did strengthen the bonds of our short friendship, perhaps prolonging the memory. In the end, he was getting the hang of meditation, though I still far surpassed him in the art.  
  
  
  
Back home, all was dark. We snatched a bit of left over food from the kitchen and crawled into our beds. I slept deeply that night, which is perhaps a good thing, since the next day was one of the hardest of my life.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
  
  
AN: Sorry that was short. But either you get a short + a preview or you only get a new chapter once a year. I will type Ch. 5 ASAP, but this is my last day of freedom and it might not be up for a *long* time. But here's a preview:  
  
  
  
I don't know how I could have thought it was only 'hard' the day before. It was impossible! My mind and body threatened to quit, but Goku and Krillin kept reassuring me; I think that's all that kept me going.  
  
  
  
It's a tough training day next time on "Memories of You". Or should I say "Omoide no Anata"? Should I change the title to the Japanese translation?  
  
Please review. You are the ink for every author's pen (my new proverb!) and all that keeps me going. Arigato minna-chan. Ja ne!  
  
  
  
~Calli-chan (Callistostar786@hotmail.com)  
  
The alert system is still open if you are interested. Tell me so in a review (and leave your email) or email me. Arigato! 


	5. Pain

AN: ::does a dance:: "I Looove revieeews!!" Arigato everyone: Akiko, Prophetess Of Hearts (I just love Goku's innocence!), Spooky Fyre (I think you're already on the alert. If you didn't get it, please let me know and I'll add you again. ;D Thanks so much), Anthony (::smiles mischievously::), LeaD, solarmistress17 (You like this title better? Ok then, I'll keep it. :D Is this update timing good for you? Though I don't know how long I can keep it up ^^;;), Chibi Chibi Z (I agree- Usa and Goku fit each other so well!! I'll do my best to update them all; gomen nasi that it takes so long), CeCe, MarsMoonStar  
  
And I got another flame. My second or third I think. But you know what? I doesn't bother me anymore. I. Don't. Care. And I don't understand why people spend their time bashing other people's works. One of the mysteries of life. Oh well.  
  
But to our flamer (though I doubt you will be back to read this)- Thank you for reading so far in my fic, even if you didn't like my portrayal. I am very aware of Krillin's training, and the fact Goku was raised by one of the greatest martial artist of that time. The Usagi of the anime usually seems ditzy or clutzy. I can tell that you are a devout DBZ fan, and that is what she seems, but is she really? What if she was raised differently and none of that part of her personality was true. Though not up to Saiyin standards, Haruka-san is not weak and could set her straight. Please try to open your mind up to new things (not only for fanfics but for life too).  
  
Ok, now I sound like a psychologist or something. If you ever have the to flame a fic (especially by a new author) do it nicely. Yes, I know that there's a lot of badly written fics out there, but at least give hints for improvement. What's the point of bashing someone? (Yes, I am always the peace maker ^^;;)  
  
Enough of this!!!! LOONNGG author's note, sorry. Onto the new stuff!!!! "..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
"WAAAKE UPPP!!!!"  
  
The noise was louder than a foghorn, and, in my ear, it quickly accomplished its purpose.  
  
My eyes shot open and my head snapped up, throbbing in agony. Everyone else had their ears tightly covered while Goku screamed.  
  
A purple turtle shell waited at the bottom of my bed. Lunch was there, holding up my clothes.  
  
"Hurry up, Usa. Roshi-sensei threatened to make you go in your pjs if you don't dress soon."  
  
I groggily looked out the window at the dark sky. "But ::yawn:: the sun isn't up yet."  
  
"The milk has to be delivered by the time the sun's up," said Krillin urgently.  
  
I became fully awake now (or as close as you could be in the pre-dawn hours.) Sure, Haruka had woken me early, but it was always at dawn, and even then I protested. Lunch ushered the boys out of the room and helped me dress quickly. She put the 50lb. turtle shell on my back. It pulled me down at first– I had always trained with weighted bands on my wrists and ankles, but not on my back. Plus, I had recently gone a few days without any weights. But I soon got used to it and hurried outside to meet the others.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
"::pant:: How can you ::pant:: do this ::pant:: every day? ::pant::"  
  
"Just hold on, Usa, the first day is always the hardest," assured Goku.  
  
We were running to the top of a mountain now. Monsters were probably chasing us somewhere behind, but I had lost track. My mind fizzled [AN: I think I just made up a word ^^;; ]in and out of focus. Goku and Krillin split most of the bottles I carried between them. I was in the middle of the three, just in case I passed out.  
  
I don't know how I could have thought it was only 'hard' the day before. It was impossible! My mind and body threatened to quit, but Goku and Krillin kept reassuring me; I think that's all that kept me going.  
  
  
  
After that it was no easier. By the time I had finished plowing several acres with my bare hands and working major construction with only simple tools, my hands were dirty and blistered with almost no fingernails left and my back felt as though it would snap. I staggered into the house for breakfast, only to have my first experience with Lunch's strange sneezes. Next thing I knew, we were fleeing from a murderous blonde. We went out for breakfast. [AN: For those of you that haven't seem Dragonball, whenever Lunch sneezes she goes from a kindly blue haired woman to a blonde trying to destroy everything in sight.]  
  
  
  
Although I was exempt from swimming with the boys, I got off little easier. I was simply given an old rowboat and ordered to circle another sea-monster-and-shark-infested lake. Ever tried rowing a boat before, by yourself. It's a tough job to keep lugging that hunk of wood through the water. [AN: I know. I do crew. ^^;; ] Now add that to a vessel that's falling apart and sharks bitting at your tail and an already aching body. Sure, the adreneline rush helps (though by this time I doubt I had any adreneline left) but rowing for your life is no easy task. Immediately after being almost drowned and swallowed in the water, I had to run laps on land, escaping dinosaurs. I never realized there could be so many hungry monsters in one world! By the end, my legs and arms were ready to fall off.  
  
  
  
I fared a bit better in the dodging lessons, when we were tied to a tree and forced to escape the bees, but I was so exhausted that I did get stung quite a few times. Krillin was only stung once. Goku- not at all.  
  
  
  
The mental lessons were by far the easiest, simply because they were simple and Michiru had already taught me. It was almost laughable to see Goku struggling so much.  
  
  
  
I collapsed onto my bed at the end of the day, too tired to even realize that we had done no training in the attacks and moves of martial arts.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Once again, I apologize for the shortness. In case you are confused:  
  
-Technically this *is* day two of training. But it's day one with the weights  
  
-The day before was easy stuff and shortened. Plus there was no weight. And today started earlier and lasted all day. That's why Usa was so worn out this time.  
  
  
  
Next time we go for Day one ... er... two... to Day Last. About two weeks later. PREVIEW!!!  
  
I thought I saw his face fall slightly, but it may have been my imagination. Suddenly he seemed to get another idea and it lit up again.  
  
"I want you to meet a friend of mine, Usa."  
  
  
  
Yes, there's some more "romance" next time. How cute they are!!! Anyways, hope you liked this chapter. Please review!!! I really should be getting back to my research now, ja ne!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	6. One last day

AN: Thank you everyone!!! I love your reviews!!! FYI:  
  
Goku: 12  
  
Krillin: 13  
  
Usagi: 12  
  
Roshi-sensei: old ^^;;  
  
A bit of romance here. YAY!!! Hope you like it. Please R&R.  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ****  
  
But Goku was right: the first day was the hardest.  
  
  
  
The days began to fly by, and all too soon the Tournament was just two days away.  
  
  
  
It was our last day of training. It was I who woke up Goku and Krillin with my scream. I had regained my speed under weight, and now it was a constant race between me and Goku to see who could be faster. The monsters were left in the dust.  
  
  
  
The farmer and the construction workers gave us little gifts and well wishes when we finished, grateful for our amazing work. I traded with Goku: a stuffed purple dragon for his pink bunny. ^^;;  
  
  
  
The bees and sharks and dinosaurs didn't stand a chance against us. And Lunch didn't sneeze once that day.  
  
  
  
I almost cried as we ate, or rather inhaled, the last dinner she cooked us. It was delicious, with seven extra large courses. I've always wondered where she found the funds to get that food…  
  
  
  
That evening, I gave Goku his last meditation lesson.  
  
  
  
He'd finally started to get the hang of it. When I found him that night, he was already in our "spot", his face focused but relaxed, hovering an inch off the ground.  
  
I tried to contain my squeal of delight, but I wasn't successful. His eyes shot open and, his concentration broken, he tumbled to the ground.  
  
"Goku Goku Goku!!!" I cried, running to him and helping him up.  
  
"Oww…"  
  
"You did it, Goku!!! You did it!!!!"  
  
"Then why does it hurt?"  
  
I just smiled and shook my head. "No no, Goku. That was just for when you made me fall. But you were really doing it!!"  
  
His face slowly lit up. "I… was?"  
  
"Uh huh!!! You were meditating, Goku, truly deeply meditating. You were this high off the ground!" I put my hand down to show him.  
  
His face suddenly went from confused to ecstatic. "I did it, I did it, I did it!!!!" We were jumping around insanely now, holding hands and yelling and singing all at once. I gave him a big hug and smiled. "You've graduated now, Goku. You don't need anymore lessons!"  
  
I thought I saw his face fall slightly, but it may have been my imagination. Suddenly he seemed to get another idea and it lit up again. "I want you to meet a friend of mine, Usa."  
  
  
  
  
  
The next thing I remember, I was hurtling through the sky on that wonderful yellow cloud. It had been years since I had experienced the joy of flying, and I'd never ridden the Nimbus without Daddy. I held onto Goku tightly as my hair flew out like streamers behind us. I squealed in delight.  
  
Flying over a wildflower-filled meadow, Goku reached down and scooped me up some of the lilies. Blushing, and without looking up, he offered the little white flowers to me.  
  
"Um… these are for you… cause they're pretty and… so are you." He said the last part very quickly and stuck out his hand, a pink hue on his cheeks.  
  
My face lit up. "Domo Arigato, Goku-chan!" They were beautiful little flowers. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek, causing him to turn beet red. But he was soon distracted as the Nimbus gave a lurch and we almost turned upside-down.  
  
  
  
Over the forest and the mountains we flew, through the valleys and above the river. The spray of the sea cooled our laughing faces while the warmth of the setting sun warmed our skin.  
  
  
  
It is amazing and truly fascinating to go whizzing into the sunset at break neck speed. If you ever get the opportunity, be sure to take it. It is one my most tender and precious memories.  
  
  
  
What I would give now for the little yellow Nimbus to come flying up to me, like a dog returning to its master, with a small spiky haired boy offering me his hand and assuring me, "It's fun! Don't be afraid; I'm right here."  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ****  
  
AN: Another shortie, sorry. The next few will probably be, too. I'll try to make them a bit longer, though. Next time:  
  
  
  
I tried to drift off to sleep, but I couldn't. Every time I closed my eyes or began to doze, thoughts of *him * invaded my head. I blushed just thinking about him. 'Am I falling for him?' my innocent mind wondered. No, I had already fallen. Hard. I looked over at him snoring and blushed again.  
  
  
  
How sweet!!! Childhood love. Will be up ASAP. Arigato minna-chan. Ja ne!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	7. On the Road Again

AN: Arigato minna-chan for all your reviews! Unfortunately, I can't say this is much longer, but I could only scrape together a little time. Gomen nasi!  
  
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Onto the fic!  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
We were flying again the next morning, but in a slightly different manner. It wasn't the smooth exhilarating ride of the Nimbus cloud, but rather the slower rickety flight of a small plane.  
  
Goku was sleeping, as usual. Krillin was reading a newspaper. I assumed Daddy was sleeping, but I couldn't tell behind his thick sunglasses.  
  
I tried to drift off to sleep, but I couldn't. Every time I closed my eyes or began to doze, thoughts of *him * invaded my head. I blushed just thinking about him. 'Am I falling for him?' my innocent mind wondered. No, I had already fallen. Hard. I looked over at him snoring and blushed again.  
  
We were all dressed up, as though we were going to a party or something. Daddy, Krillin, and Goku (who was looking *quite* good ^^;;) all wore new suits. I had a skort [AN: shorts and skirt in one] and top, plus new ribbons for my odangos.  
  
Eventually I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember, it was dark and the moon shone brightly. A waxing gibbous, almost full. I was suddenly reminded of my time limit. How many days did I have? One? Two at most? My heart suddenly was full of worry at having to leave my father and new friends.  
  
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Goku. "Krillin! There's stars on the ground!"  
  
Krillin barely looked up. "That's the city. Where did you grow up?"  
  
Goku just looked plain thrilled.  
  
  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
  
  
In the city, a taxi drove us to where we would sign up for the tournament. The man at the desk peered down at us. "They are competing?" he said with an accent. "But they are so young!"  
  
Daddy just smirked. "Hai. Come back tomorrow to watch them in the finals." He winked at us.  
  
We just smiled at his confidence in us, though I, for one, was starting to get nervous about the next day.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Yo! Goku!" Someone called over the crowd. We all looked up. A man with a scar across his face, a blue haired woman, a flying cat, and a chubby pig were approaching us. "Goku! Long time, no see!"  
  
Goku looked ecstatic. "Wow! Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, Oolong! It's great to see you again!"  
  
"You're competing, right?" asked the one called Yamcha.  
  
"Hai! Me and Krillin and Usa!" I waved and smiled.  
  
"Hello Usa," said Bulma politely. "Where are you from?" Actually, I could tell that they were all wondering why Master Roshi accepted another pupil, and a girl at that.  
  
I smiled and curtsied. "Actually I'm from another dimension. I'm just visiting my Daddy for a few weeks."  
  
Goku's four friends sweatdropped. "Um... that's nice." It was obvious that they didn't believe a word I said.  
  
"So who's your Daddy then?" continued Bulma slyly, in an attempt to prove me false. "Do we know him?"  
  
Daddy, or Roshi-sensei, chose that minute to return from the Entrance Table. "Hello Yamcha and Puar and Oolong and... Bulma..."  
  
"Hiya Daddy!" I piped up.  
  
He just smiled. "I'm pleased to see you too, Bunny."  
  
The four fell over.  
  
  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
  
  
We went out to dinner with Goku's friends. They're actually very nice people, once you got to know them. I found out that Puar and Oolong are shape-shifters, and Yamcha is Bulma's boyfriend, and how the four of them (with Goku) went on an adventure to collect dragonballs or something that resulted in Oolong getting an extra-soft pair of underwear.  
  
I told them a bit about me too, and Krillin spoke some. Yamcha was constantly asking about our training, but Daddy insisted it was "top- secret".  
  
Overall, it was an enjoyable night and helped me forget the pressures of the next day.  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ****  
  
AN: Next time is a lot like Dragon Ball. If you've never seen it, it'll all be new, but if you have I hope it won't bore you. If I can, I'll try to combine chapters 8 & 9 for a longer update. If I can put it together in limited time.  
  
Getting to the end of what I've already written. I'd better pick up that pen again.  
  
Feel free to email me whenever you want. Callistostar786@hotmail.com I might not check it that often, but I try. And if you want to be alerted of new chapter updates, let me know and I'll add you to my mailing list. Ja ne!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	8. The Wall

AN: Domo arigato Hades, Spooky Fyre (aww!!! Thank you so much!!!), Prophetess Of Hearts (Yea, Goku lost his tail after the first saga in Dragonball… it comes back later tho. ;) But Piccy probably won't show up until much later), MarsMoonStar, Maddy, moon-bunny-87, and everyone else who read. Your reviews are everything to me!!!  
  
And I guess you've waited long enough to read, so I won't bore you anymore. ^^;;  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
I was fidgety in the morning. We all drove to the Martial Arts Center. Daddy gave me, Goku, and Krillin matching orange and blue fighting gis that we now wore.  
  
We felt miniscule and insignificant among the mass of tall and strange fighters. Along with Yamcha, we crowded around the speaker who was explaining the rules of the Elimination Round.  
  
"138 fighters entered the Tournament this year. Out of this will come eight who will fight in front of the audience. For the Elimination Round, you will be assigned a number and a block. There are four blocks. Two winners from each block advance. It is single elimination. You lose a match by being thrown out of the ring, knocked unconscious, or saying "I give up". There is a time limit of one minute—after that, the judges decide the winner." [AN: Can't quite remember- I know it's something like that.]  
  
Goku ended up with #70, and Krillin got #93- both in the third block. Yamcha got #35 in the second block. I chose #126- fourth block.  
  
"May I have numbers 69 and 70 over here please!" someone called. With little sign of nervousness, Goku climbed into the ring, facing a huge giant. The giant lunged, but Goku was too fast. "I'm over here, Mister!" he called, tapping him on the back.  
  
Then something amazing happened. The giant stumbled, as though pushed, and fell completely out of the ring.  
  
Goku walked away, staring at his single finger.  
  
"Wow! Sure was lucky that guy fell out of the ring!" said Krillin.  
  
Goku looked confused. "I don't know." Then he looked up at the two of us. "I don't think we should use our full strength, you guys."  
  
Krillin looked shocked. I was a bit surprised myself, to say the least.  
  
"But… why?" he said.  
  
"Well, we've been training under some harsh conditions, and I don't think we know our own strength yet."  
  
  
  
Just then, a bunch of bald men in yellow and orange gis approached. "Well lookie here, guys. It's our old pal Krillin!"  
  
Krillin mumbled an inaudible "Hello".  
  
"Well Krillin, I'm surprised you had the guts to even come to the tournament. You don't stand a chance, of course. And guess who'll have the honor of knocking you out in the first round?" The man smirked at himself. "Me."  
  
  
  
The men walked away howling with laughter, while Krillin shook with anger or worry.  
  
"Why do you let them push you around like that?" asked Goku.  
  
"I used to train with them. I was always no good. I was their punching bag. They've always been stronger than me. What can I do?" he said helplessly.  
  
"You've got to stand up for yourself, Krillin!" I said. "You're stronger than you think."  
  
"When you get into that ring, I want you to give that bully everything you've got," said Goku.  
  
"But I thought you just said not to use your full strength!" said Krillin.  
  
"Well… he's the exception."  
  
  
  
  
  
"May I have numbers 126 and 127 over here please!"  
  
"Gotta go!" I said, already halfway there. "Wish me luck!"  
  
"Hey, you're not getting rid of us that easily!" called Goku, as he and Krillin ran after me.  
  
  
  
I thought I was facing a tree at first. His gi was brown, and his legs alone were twice as tall as I. His hands looked like they could crush me in an instant. I felt like a bug waited to be squashed. I swallowed hard, peering at his jeering head near the ceiling.  
  
"You can do it, Usa!" I heard Goku yell. I felt courage begin to swell inside me.  
  
"Fighters… BEGIN!!"  
  
My opponent peered down at me. "Sorry to squish you, little miss," he said, in an accented voice.  
  
I smirked. "I won't go down that easily."  
  
With that, I ran through his legs. He stuck his head between his tree-like legs, but I was a blur in his eyes. In and out and all around I ran, much faster than he could watch. I jumped up onto his bent back to surprise him, but that jump made all the difference. Next thing I knew, he was rammed against the wall and I had won.  
  
"Opps…" I mumbled, looking down at Goku who had an I-told-you-so look on his face.  
  
  
  
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~  
  
  
  
Krillin defeated the bully with no problem and regained his confidence quickly.  
  
  
  
We all were rapidly advancing. Soon, we all had one match left until we could compete in the semi-finals outside. A giant with a deathly odor and a winged dinosaur won for the First Block. Yamcha and a purple haired lady for the Second. Goku and Krillin both made it for the Third. An Indian man was the first qualifier for Block Four…  
  
I had one match to go. I faced an old man that I had heard called "Jackie Chun". I smirked. It had been easy enough so far. I looked at Goku and Krillin. They gave me another reassuring smile and a thumbs-up.  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry, Bunny, but I can't let you face the pain and fright of the next level."  
  
  
  
I whipped around at the sound of this whisper. But no one seemed to have said a word. I eyed Jackie Chun curiously; he looked strangely familiar…  
  
  
  
And so we began. I quickly realized that this wouldn't be as easy as before. We circled, trying to find a weakness in or at least get a feel for the other's technique.  
  
We charged simultaneously. He dodged my fist while I dodged his. My knee met his and his elbow met mine.  
  
Besides my spars with Goku and Krillin (and Haruka of course), I had never met a fighter who was even near to matching my speed and skill. This old man was as fast, if not faster, than me.  
  
  
  
Our fight continued without halt. All were gathered around us, since this was the final match of the Elimination Round. I heard Goku and Krillin cheering to my right. I fought harder.  
  
We were moving in a blur, and I doubted many could follow our progress. At last, he was able to land a punch (in my stomach), and I fell, sliding across the ring. I was careful to stop myself before I fell out. I jumped up and was soon attacking again with greater fury.  
  
I landed a kick and he too got thrown to the edge of the ring. But we were soon at it again.  
  
  
  
I thought I heard someone calling for us to stop, saying our time was up. But none heeded the word. All watched with amazement. The judges couldn't decide who was ahead anyway.  
  
  
  
But Jackie Chun and I were oblivious to this. We were in our own world. A few more times we were both knocked down, but we continued to get up. We were both bruised, with some blood here and there.  
  
  
  
Suddenly he jumped back. I looked at him, confused.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said in a sad voice. "Now please back up." I wouldn't have listened, but there was something strange in the way he said it. Concern and worry- about me. I took a few steps back.  
  
With a sigh, he put his wrists together.  
  
"Ka-" What's this?  
  
"me-" Blue light appeared in his hands.  
  
"ha-" What was he doing?  
  
"me-" There was an orb of blue now.  
  
"ha!" It flew from his hands, impacting the center of the ring. Although it didn't actually hit me, huge waves of energy rippled from the focus and pushed my small form backward through the air.  
  
  
  
I felt something hard against my back. The wall. I slid down. The floor. I was out. I had lost.  
  
  
  
It seemed that in a dream, Goku and the others ran over. I panted for air.  
  
Still on the damaged ring, with his hands still in the position, Jackie Chun took slow gulps of air. No smile of victory graced his features.  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry, Bunny, for all the pain I've caused you." It was the whisper again. My head shot up and I looked at the old man.  
  
But his back was facing me. I sighed, deciding it must not have been him. I did not see the tear that slid down his cheek.  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
AN: Yes. I was more that 2 pages. You should be proud of me!!! I just spent time that I was supposed to be doing a term paper combining two chapters and typing them for you!!! Be grateful and review!!  
  
Unfortunately, the next chapter is short and needs work. And I have nothing written after that. So I better get my pen out and start writing again.  
  
And if any angry Densetsu fans come at me yelling (because I do have it written, but with the limited time to type I chose this one), I'm directing them to you. ^^;;  
  
"Your reviews are the ink for the author's pen." And I am desperately in need of ink.  
  
  
  
Until next time, Ja ne!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	9. From Below

AN: I'm baaack!!! Gomen nasi for the delay. I promised to update Densetsu first.  
  
Domo arigato to all who read (and hopefully also) reviewed: gwen, Eo, MarsMoonStar, Spooky Fyre, solarmistress17 (you'll see, you'll see… ::wink::), moon-bunny-87 (I guess you're not familiar with Dragonball. It's ok, I wasn't until about a month ago. What I'm writing takes place in the 2nd saga of Dragonball. The old man is… well… Master Roshi. I had to give it away!!! And I didn't make that up, it actually happened in the show. He disguised himself so he could test Goku and Krillin without them knowing it was him. I just added Usa to it. :D), Bonnie-Shae, The Kuro no Tenshi (Thank you!!! I have inspiration now!!! And you will be happy to hear that I've finished writing part I and I'm moving onto the future- part II- with good ideas! Domo arigato!!!), Sailor Bree (aww thanks :D), LeaD (just wait and see ::wink::), Anthony.  
  
And why did Master Roshi (aka Jackie Chun- he's in disguise) prevent Usa from making it? Let's call it overprotectiveness. Any teenagers can tell you about it. She's his little "bunny" so he's constantly worried about her, though he doesn't often show it. He's just afraid she isn't ready for it or something.  
  
Make any sense? Ok. Onto chapter nine!!!  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ****  
  
  
  
And so it was that I watched from the crowd while my friends fought.  
  
Bulma was eager to hear all news of Yamcha, though there wasn't much to say. After all, the fighters themselves had come out before the match. I had taken Goku and Krillin aside and given them a warning.  
  
  
  
~*~Flashback~*~  
  
"Watch out for that Jackie Chun guy."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Yeah, he's so old!"  
  
"There's something to him other than his appearance. He's stronger than he looks. And he's hiding something. Just be careful, okay?"  
  
They both nodded, not quite understanding.  
  
I smiled and hugged them both. "Ok! I wanna see some good fighting from both of you. Even though I can't be up there with you, kicking your butts of course, I want you to give me your best fight. We can spar later!"  
  
~*~End Flashback~*~  
  
  
  
  
  
I hadn't seen Daddy since this morning before the Elimination Round. But I often got the feeling I was being watched by someone. I pushed the odd feeling aside as the Semi-finals began.  
  
  
  
"Let's hear it for Krillin and Bacterium!"  
  
The two marched out amid cheers. The contrast was amazing. Krillin was small, bald, and humble. This Bacterium fellow was huge, disgusting, and putrid. A rancid scent entered the arena as soon as he stepped in. All covered their noses.  
  
"Fighters ready? Let the Semi-Final Round begin!"  
  
  
  
A gong sounded. Krillin faced the giant in a fighting stance while holding his nose. The stinky giant just laughed.  
  
Although Krillin attempted to attack, it's very hard to fight while protecting your nose from a scent. Before long, the giant was holding Krillin tightly around the neck. The bald head began changing colors from lack of oxygen.  
  
  
  
"Krillin, come on, you can do it! Fight back!" I yelled. I could hear Goku shouting similar encouragement.  
  
  
  
Slowly, Krillin pried the hugged ugly hands away. But his torture was not over. We watched in horror as the disgusting bulk sat on the small boy, stomped on him, and spit at his (though he dodged the later). Things looked bad for Krillin. The smell was too much for him.  
  
"Krillin! You can beat him!! Forget about the smell—you don't even have a nose, remember?"  
  
  
  
Krillin felt the center of his face and suddenly new strength filled his limbs. In no time, the giant lay in the ring, knocked out. Krillin was victorious!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Yamcha was up next. He faced the old man—Jackie Chun. Bulma cheered but I knew almost immediately that he couldn't win: not only was he physically not prepared, but mentally he was not prepared. He faced the old man, overconfident in his youth. But all too soon he learned that age isn't everything. Yamcha was defeated.  
  
  
  
The Indian man and pretty purple-haired lady were next. After the lady realized that her charm and beauty didn't work on this man, she quickly lost. But I wasn't paying much attention to this match—I was nervous about the next one. It would be Goku's turn.  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** ****  
  
AN: Gomen, but I doubt the next chapter will be out soon. It is looong for me! But here's a preview:  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, another man was boldly standing up for his battered friend. "Do you see what you did to him?" he said, shaking with fury. "NO ONE does that to my buddy. I'm gonna KILL YOU!!!!"  
  
  
  
This author is in need of a constant supply of ink, so please review and fill my pen!!!! Lol.  
  
Ja!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	10. Boy vs Dino

AN: Gomen nasi for the delay. I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting! So I'm giving you a treat: two chapters for the price of one! Yay!!!  
  
Domo arigato Peachie, Sushi, CherryGirl, Tenshi Taiyono, Orlha Chloe, Michelle, ?????????, Anthony, Hotaru Rae, MarsMoonStar, Urbabyangelxo, The Kuro no Tenshi, and all who read (but I wish you'd review ^^;;)  
  
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Enjoy it!  
  
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **  
  
I dared not breathe as Goku faced his opponent, the winged purple monster, both awaiting the gong to begin. Both were studying the other, mentally taking notes. Their stares were steady and unbroken. They didn't even realize as the sky suddenly opened up and rain poured down.  
  
The crowd ran for cover. The two fighters paid no heed to the fact that they were drenched in seconds. The announcer took one glance at the audience, or lack there of, and quickly consulted with the judge.  
  
"This match will be postponed," he announced with relief, "for an hour, until after the rain passes."  
  
The two fighters remained where they were.  
  
"Goku?" I called. I don't think he heard anything.  
  
Krillin and I jumped into the ring and both grabbed an arm. "Goku!"  
  
He seemed to come back to reality. "Huh? When's dinner?"  
  
I just laughed. "You're fighting an hour later. We could get you some food now if you want."  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
Ten minutes later, we could all be found in a bar nearby. Most of the fighters were there as well. As I sipped my juice, the Old West style saloon doors swung open and a large cloaked figure entered. As he stepped further in, I recognized him as the dinosaur Goku would be fighting.  
  
He stomped up to the bartender. "Gimme a milk," he demanded.  
  
The men beside him, some of the pupil's of Krillin's former teacher, scoffed at him. "Milk? Well, aren't we a man. You better hurry home, I think I hear Mommy calling!"  
  
With little effort, the dinosaur put his fist into the man. The man went flying to hit the wall. It looked as though he'd broken a few teeth, or even bones.  
  
Krillin stared at the monster with frightened awe. "Wow, he's strong," he said nervously.  
  
Goku just grinned happily. "Yup, and I get to fight him!" Krillin looked sick.  
  
  
  
Meanwhile, another man was boldly standing up for his battered friend. "Do you see what you did to him?!" he said, shaking with fury. "NO ONE does that to my buddy. I'm gonna KILL YOU!!!"  
  
He lunged. Several other bald yellow-suited fighters joined the fray.  
  
But the dinosaur was too strong. One by one, the men were all thrown about the room. The dinosaur advanced on the one who started it, ready to kill him. The man was shaking with fear.  
  
Yamcha jumped up and stood in his way. "Stop! What's your problem? You don't strike a man when he's down. That's low."  
  
The dinosaur smirked at him. "Very well, Scar face. You and me then."  
  
  
  
Both got into a fighting stance and charged. It seemed as though it would be a good fight, but it soon became clear that the monster had the upper hand. Yamcha wasn't doing so well. The dinosaur threw him and he landed on a table, which cracked under the weight. The dino advanced to finish him off.  
  
Without another thought, Goku jumped up. "Hey mister, over here!"  
  
The dinosaur turned and smirked. Goku smirked as well. The two faced each other, each trying to stare the other down. They lunged . . .  
  
"STOP!!"  
  
Their fists were mere inches away when they paused and looked up. Jackie Chun had stepped up from some secluded table.  
  
"Can't you two wait? You have less than a half hour to go. If you fight in here, there will be no official way to record what happened, so there will be no winner or loser. And it's very likely you will be disqualified for it. So why don't you both do the smart thing and save it for the tournament!"  
  
Goku and the dinosaur just nodded dumbly.  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
An hour was up. The purple dinosaur stood impatiently in the ring. The announcer was perplexed. He tried it again. "And here's . . . Goku!"  
  
No one came out. A huge sweatdrop appeared on the side of the man's had.  
  
"Um... Goku? Goku! Can someone please find Goku!"  
  
Everyone was shocked. Where could he be? I jumped from my seat, while Bulma screamed for me to come back, and ran back into the building behind the ring.  
  
The other fighters were looking as well. I looked in the kitchen, in the weight room, by the vending machines, in the meditation area. He was nowhere to be found.  
  
I ran out into the big courtyard. I looked behind bushes, in trees. Finally, in the far back corner of the courtyard, I found him. He was under a palm tree, fast asleep.  
  
"Goku!" I shook him urgently.  
  
He opened his eyes groggily. "Huh?"  
  
"Goku! You've got to fight! They're ready to disqualify you!" He was up in a second and running to the ring.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Back in the arena, the monster was shouting that it was a forfeit. The announcer was nervously checking his watch. I quickly hopped back to my seat as Goku entered. Everyone cheered.  
  
Goku grinned. "I was taking a nap," he announced. Everyone fell over.  
  
  
  
  
  
The gong sounded and the match began. Goku was in a fighting stance but the dinosaur was not.  
  
The purple monster held out a fist. "Wanna see a secret I have in my hand?" he asked. Goku came out of his stance. Curiously, he approached. Mercilessly, the monster punched him hard in the stomach.  
  
I bit my lip in worry.  
  
He slowly got up again and frowned. "That wasn't very nice."  
  
"Never said I was," smirked the dino.  
  
  
  
  
  
Before long, the two were in an all out fight. Fists and kicks were flying. Goku seemed to be more nimble, but the dinosaur seemed to be stronger. Finally, Goku landed a good kick. The dinosaur went flying out high above the ring.  
  
I cheered with the others; Goku had won!  
  
But we were wrong. In a minute, the monster returned, beating his wings and flying towards Goku. He landed with a smirk.  
  
  
  
  
  
He launched at the surprised boy and soon had him locked between his hands. The dinosaur spit out some salivia, which immediately hardened into two purple rings around Goku's body.  
  
Try as he might, he could not get free. His arms were held tight and he could only hop around. The dinosaur smirked, sure that this would lead to victory. He easily kicked Goku high like a soccer ball.  
  
I think I bit my lip so hard it began to bleed.  
  
It looked like it was over. After all we'd worked for, it would end like this. Trapped in purple rings. After everything- the intense training, the pain, the joys . . .  
  
That was it! I gathered my voice and screamed. "Goku! The Nimbus!!"  
  
He must have heard me. A second later I heard his voice ring out from far away. "Flying Nimbus, come to me!" I saw the little yellow cloud whizzing overhead and smiled with glee. In a minute, Goku was back, riding that lovely cloud. He hoped back into the ring, to the shock of all.  
  
  
  
The dinosaur aimed a punch, but missed. Goku was hanging on his arm by something brown and fuzzy- a tail?!  
  
Goku was laughing and smiling, but Bulma, Oolong, and Puar were deathly pale. "Oh no..." muttered Bulma.  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
  
"Can't you see it?" squealed Puar.  
  
"The tail you mean? What about it?"  
  
"Don't you *know*?" said Oolong.  
  
I looked at him curiously.  
  
"Hope that there's no full moon tonight," explained Bulma. "If Goku sees it with his tail back, he will turn into a mad giant ape that destroys everything. We only just made it with our lives last time."  
  
I swallowed hard and worriedly glanced at the sky before looking back at the ring.  
  
Goku seemed stronger now. It was as if his tail gave him a boost of power. He gathered his energy and shattered the purple globs around him. He stretched and tested his new strength by shattering a wall.  
  
The dinosaur was speechless. He waved a white flag and gave up.  
  
Goku had won.  
  
  
  
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ o~  
  
  
  
Four fighters were left. Only 4 out of 138. Krillin remained. Yamcha had been defeated. Goku remained. The strange Indian man remained. And the mysterious Jackie Chun remained.  
  
Krillin was up next. I feared this fight. I had great faith in Krillin's abilities, but he was up against Jackie Chun, a man who seemed to possess uncanny power. I knew that he was a threat.  
  
  
  
Actually, Krillin fared rather well. Much better than Yamcha at least. At times I was very confident that he could win it.  
  
He seemed almost equal in strength to the mysterious old man. At one point, the two even slowed down to reenact what had happened in a split second that the rest of the crowd missed.  
  
Krillin was doing very well. Jackie Chun was even kicked out of the ring, but he used the Kamehameha wave to push himself back in. But once again, experience gained the upper hand. The old man just had too many secrets and tricks up his sleeve. Krillin lost.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The Indian man was another story. He seemed to be an expert at meditation and focus. Perhaps if Goku hadn't received those meditation lessons, he might have lost. But I personally believe he would have still somehow won. Sure, this man was good, but he just wasn't up to Goku's level.  
  
Before long, Goku, a mere boy of twelve, advanced to the finals of the World Martial Arts Tournament. It would be a face off of the young and the old and a match to remember.  
  
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **  
  
AN: Ah yes, a bit longer. Next time it's Goku vs. JC (Roshi-sensei). Yay! Should be fun.  
  
  
  
******************** TEASER: ********************  
  
::winks:: I know, I know. But I've been bad and started writing another fic. Gomen, I couldn't help myself. It actually should be very good considering a twist I have planned for later chapters. I'm stil throwing around titles, but I'll be sure to let you know when I post it. Here's the glimpse I've been showing with my other fics:  
  
She was running, running. She couldn't stop, she couldn't turn back. Her legs felt like lead. Her heart pounded in her ears. Her mind was a blur. Blindly, she chose one street and then the next. She knew well enough what those two monsters were capable of. She could easily guess what would happen if they caught her. And she didn't care to test her theory. After all, annoying little pink hearts are nothing compared to the ruthless hands of death?  
  
***************************************************  
  
NEway, must finish summer reading. Please review! Ja ne!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	11. Final Showdown

AN: Domo arigato for all your reviews. You really keep me going!  
  
"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Without any more delay, onto chapter 11!  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **  
  
The sun was low in the sky. I gave Goku an encouraging smile. Krillin had been so close to winning, and Goku was even stronger! The gong sounded and the match began.  
  
  
  
With little sign of warning, Jackie Chun suddenly lunged at him and kicked with all his might. Goku, caught unaware, was kicked him above the ring and away.  
  
"It looks like Jackie Chun was looking for a quick victory," said the announcer with a disappointed note to his voice.  
  
  
  
  
  
"Iie, Goku..." I murmered. "There's got to be a way."  
  
It seemed impossible though. Gravity would pull him down to Earth. He couldn't use the Nimbus again because the judges had outlawed it. He would hit the ground and lose.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
I blinked. There was something approaching. Something orange. Something with black spiky hair. Something with something brown and fuzzy that was acting as a helicopter propeller to make it fly.  
  
  
  
I jumped. "It's Goku!!!"  
  
Everyone cheered as Goku flew in, using his tail as a helicopter. Jackie Chun's eye were bulging.  
  
"Yeah, Goku!" I called.  
  
  
  
"Lucky you had your tail," said Jackie Chun with a familiar smirk.  
  
"Oh," said Goku, smiling. "I could have blasted back with the Kamehameha wave like you."  
  
Jackie scoffed in disbelief. "You couldn't do it."  
  
"Yes I can."  
  
Jackie raised his eyebrows, amused but still disbelieving. "We'll just see about that."  
  
  
  
Without another warning, Jackie put his hands together. "Ka..."  
  
Goku got the idea and did the same. "Ka..."  
  
"me..." "me..." "ha..." "ha..." "me..." "me..." "ha!" "ha!"  
  
  
  
At the same time, they released their energies. Everyone shielded their eyes from the intense light as the two impacted. Jackie Chun and Goku fed their waves from opposite sides while the two met in the middle in a large blue orb of clashing energy.  
  
Neither could hold it for long. The intense force of such powerful energies caused both to be pushed backwards. They fell at opposite ends of the ring.  
  
  
  
Goku jumped up almost immediately. "This is fun! What can we play next?"  
  
I smiled. Still the same innoncence, the same fun-lovingness. I would miss that forever.  
  
Jackie Chun stood and looked at him grimly. "Sorry kid, playtime's over."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Actually, Goku's 'playtime' continued. Jackie Chun used the Double-After Image technique to get Goku from behind. But as soon as Goku recovered his senses, he modified this to the Triple-After Image technique and got Jackie from above.  
  
  
  
Jackie Chun tried everything from acting insane (Mad Cow technique, which Goku countered by creating his own Crazy Monkey technique) to using rock- paper-scissors to attack (in which Goku said "paper" and actually used the "rock" fist). Then Jackie made another declaration he had won and began to hypnotise....  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Things looked grim. I recognized it immediately from Setsuna's few lessons, but unfortunately, Goku did not. He (literally) fell for Jackie Chun's "Sleepy Boy Technique" and fell asleep in the ring. It looked bad.  
  
The announcer was counting.  
  
"6... 7... 8..."  
  
  
  
  
  
Suddenly it hit me like one of Jackie's punches. I gathered my voice and screamed.  
  
"GOKU!! DINNER!!!"  
  
  
  
He sat up and I smiled wide.  
  
"Food? Where?" He jumped up and ran around. "Where's my dinner?"  
  
Bulma chuckled. "Goku, we'll buy you a big dinner as soon as you beat Jackie Chun."  
  
"Right," said Goku, more focused as he turned to face his opponent.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The red sun was sinking below the horizon. Despite how many times he had been down, Jackie Chun made another declaration.  
  
"I'm sorry young man, but you have lost the match."  
  
  
  
I looked at him strangely. Didn't he realize that every time he said that, it never came true.  
  
  
  
Jackie Chun spread his legs and crouched while he put his palms together and kept his elbows straight. He began to gather energy.  
  
  
  
It was intense. His eyes glowed eerily, his muscles bulged, and lightning rippled across his body. It was as if all his energy had suddenly become 20,000 bolts of electricity.  
  
Unfortunately, that's exactly what had happened. His eyes flashed and he directed all this new electricity at a confused Goku.  
  
  
  
"Lightning Flash Surprise Attack!"  
  
  
  
Goku was hoisted into the air, struggling as he was eleticuted. His hair stood straight and he writhed in pain. I wrung my hands in worry.  
  
  
  
"Goku, give up!" I heard Krillin yell.  
  
"You'll die if you don't!" screamed Yamcha.  
  
  
  
I bit my lip.  
  
"Iie!" cried Goku. "I'm still fighting!"  
  
"You'd better do as they say, young man," said Jackie. "My Lightning Flash Surprise Attack is unbeatable and deadly."  
  
"I'm not quitting!"  
  
  
  
Tears formed in my eyes. I couldn't let it end like this.  
  
"It's not worth it, Goku!" I cried, with my heart in my words. "Not now, not like this. Onegai, Goku!"  
  
  
  
He looked at me. Even in all his pain he looked me straight in the eyes. I thought I saw a tear in his eye. "Ok. I'll say it."  
  
  
  
He took a deep breath and looked into the sky. "I..."  
  
  
  
He stopped and went no further. He stopped struggling and was transfixed, staring at the full moon.  
  
  
  
And he began to change. His eyes glowed red and fangs grew from his mouth. Hair sprouted and he began to grow.  
  
Jackie Chun's Lightning attack was useless as the huge ape grew.  
  
  
  
The crowd became chaotic as a huge ape with blood red eyes and fangs stood on the ring. They screamed and ran for cover.  
  
  
  
Then the rampage began. Jackie Chun stood as far away from the wild monster as possible, while still being in the ring. The ape smashed the ring and destroyed the buildings with a single swing of his mighty arms.  
  
  
  
"Usagi!" Bulma called desperately. She, Puar, and Oolong were further away behind a wall. But I couldn't move. My feet were rooted to the spot. It was not fear, but some other unexplainable force. I stood where we had cheered, just below the ring, vulnerable and helpless.  
  
  
  
The monster continued his stampede. He ripped a roof off and carried it across the ring. He stood above me and prepared to hurl it on me.  
  
But strangely I felt no fear. I stared directly into his red as and he... paused. He began to twitch, as though his instincts were conflicting. He was unsure of what to do. He was having some type of internal struggle.  
  
  
  
Eventually, one conquered. He threw the roof to the side and I remained unharmed. I continued to stare into his eyes, as he stood still, looking almost helpless under my gaze. I couldn't really explain it any other way.  
  
  
  
  
  
That's the last thing I remember. All that is left is a hazy dream that I doubt has any link to reality. How I wish it did.  
  
  
  
  
  
**************************************************************************** ** **************************************************************************** **  
  
Next chapter is the last one in the past. It's rather sad, so be prepared. ::hands out tissue boxes to crowd::  
  
Also, be sure to check out my new fic "When you can cry no more": Crystal Tokyo is destroyed by androids. Protected by her mother and guardians, Chibi Usa is the only one to escape. But fate has a plan for the young princess... and sometimes you have to go back to the past to find it... It should be good. Please read it!  
  
Ja ne!  
  
~Calli-chan 


	12. Goodbye, Love

AN: Domo arigato for all your reviews. You really keep me going!

"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. "I will remember you" belongs to Sarah Mclachlan and associates.

I was going to switch to 3rd person in the future, but I decided that now would be a better time. Usagi doesn't remember this much because it's basically her subconsious talking to his conscious. Goku remembers, but he eventually convinces himself that it was a dream.

************************************************************************

************************************************************************

_I will remember you_

_Will you remember me?_

_Don't let your life pass you by_

_Weep not for memories._

All was black darkness. Ever since those horrible ape instincts had taken over, Goku's mind was pushed to the back. He saw all the same things and heard the same things, but he just couldn't control his body.

And then there was her. He had no idea why she stood there and didn't run. She just stared up at him with those crystalline eyes.

_Remember the good times that we had?_

_I let them slip away from us when things got bad_

_How clearly I first saw you smiling' in the sun_

_Wanna feel your warmth upon me, I wanna be the one_

He had to stop this monster. He pushed his mind forward and began the struggle. Before, he'd always lost immediately. But now he had something to cling to. He couldn't let the beast hurt Usagi.

The two minds pushed against each other, each wanting control. This was not the physical battle Goku was used to fighting, this was a true mental battle. It took so much energy, from both consciouses, to try to resist the other. One would seem to be winning and manage to move the body slightly, then the other would fight back with more. Both were exhausted. Eventually, simply because he had a reason, Goku was able to beat the monster inside him. But he couldn't turn himself back to a human (even if he had known how). His energy was spent. He was the victor, yet, from lack of energy both ape and boy mind seemed to be pushed into subconsciousness. Usagi continued to gaze at him as his human eyes stared back. She was unhurt.

_I will remember you_

_Will you remember me?_

_Don't let your life pass you by_

_Weep not for the memories_

A soft glow penetrated the everlasting darkness. Goku found himself only a foot away from the creamy face of a girl clothed in white. Her gown was of gold and silver and pearls were strung in her familiar hair. A crescent moon sat on her forehead. A regal air seemed to surround her, but she seemed strangely familiar.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The girl smiled. "My name is Serenity-hime of the White Moon Kingdom. I lie dormant in Usagi as you currently lie dormant in this body."

Goku couldn't form his questions into words as he stared blankly.

"It is a difficult concept and not necessary for you to fully comprehend. Demo, I come here to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Hai. Thank you- for not hurting Usagi. I know it took all your mind's strength to stop the animal from taking another step and injuring her. You have my complete gratitude. You must truly care for her."

Goku blushed but didn't respond.

"Domo arigato, Son Goku. I have a rare and wonderful gift for you. Rare because Lunarians have never before given Saiyins gifts, and wonderful because of the power it will offer you."

Goku looked up, with a mixed of eagerness and surprise on his face.

Serenity smiled. "No longer will you be forced to transform at the sight of my home, the Moon. No longer will instincts of destruction control your body. Iie, with the power of the Moon I give you a choice. You may choose when to transform, and when you do you will not lose yourself to the new body- you will be in control." [AN: I know they eventually learn to control the ape themselves, but Serenity basically just "taught" Goku early.]

Goku looked up sadly. "It's true, then. *I* am the monster that comes out during the full Moon. I'm the one that wrecks things. I'm the one that killed Grandpa."

Serenity nodded sadly.

"And now that will never happen again? I won't accidentally kill people or become a monster every 30 days?"

"Never again."

"Domo arigato gozaimasu, Serenity-hime."

Serenity held up her hand. "It's the least I can do."

Goku blinked; he seemed to be seeing two. One, the princess in a gown, and two, the girl he knew so well in an orange gi. "After all you have given me," said the two in unison, "this is my gift to you. So that you may remember me."

"Remember you?"

"I will be leaving shortly. But I just want you to know that I love you very much." Though the two girl were still fused as one, the regal voice was gone and only Usa's voice echoed in his ears.

"I love you with all my heart, in fact. I fear that my life will be empty without you, but the people need me. Only I can save their world, just as only you can save this world from countless monsters of the future. I will greatly miss you in the years to come."

Goku was speechless. The princess image had faded away and only Usagi remained in her gi. "Usa-chan?" was all he could manage.

"Tell Daddy I love him and I had to go; he won't understand. Tell Krillin I will miss him so much and to not be afraid to stand up for himself to bigger people. Tell Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar thank you for so many friendships in such a short time. They will all always have a special place in my heart."

Goku nodded slowly.

"Domo arigato gozaimasu, Goku, for everything. My time is up; the fortnight is over." Her image was growing hazier.

"Promise me you won't be gone forever," he begged. "Promise me you'll come back. To me."

She smiled. "Hai. Though times will change and many years may pass, one day I will come back. I will find someway to return. Somehow..."

Her image was fading. She leaned up and kissed him lightly.

As she stepped back, Goku held a silver and white flower in his hand.

"Ai shiteru, Goku-chan. Remember me. Farewell."

_I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose_

_Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose_

_Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night_

_You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light_

She was gone. The Light was out. Goku slipped into unconsciousness as his body slipped back to regular size.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Krillin watched as the ape shrank. He had no idea how Usa had survived being so close to stomped, but she had vanished too. He had not seen the tall, mysterious senshi that vanished simultaneously.

Rather worried, Krillin hopped into the ring to try to pull Goku out of the rubble. He was never able to explain how a delicate silver and white flower had come to be beside the former monster.

_And I will remember you_

_Will you remember me?_

_Don't let your life pass you by_

_Weep not for the memories_

_Weep not for the memories_

************************************************************************

************************************************************************

AN: The end of the flashback. Next chapter is part two, the future. And I think now would be a good time to explain this: This fic will be in 3 parts: My Life, My Duty, and My Love. Cosmos will return to Earth in "My Duty" (aka Part II) and she will remeet Goku and Krillin. But there will be some... ah... obstacles, and it won't be until "My Love" that she will be reunited again with him and this time be happy. Hai, unfotunately both Parts I and II end rather sad. This makes Part III all the more sweeter. ^^;; 

I'll try to get chapter 13 up ASAP, but as of now I'm very busy with life. Gomen nasi for any delay!!! If you'd like to be alerted via email (Callistostar786@hotmail.com) when I update, say so in a review and leave your email. Thanks!

Please review! Ja ne!

~Calli-chan


	13. PART II: MY DUTY

AN: WOW!!! ::falls out of chair in shock at number of reviews. DOMO ARIGATOU MINNA-CHAN!!! Gomen nasi for the delay.

**RookRaven**-Lol!!! Thanks!

**Cecelia**- Wow. Thank you so much. Will do!

**erika**- ::grins:: Yeah, I liked writing it.

**crossover-to-my-world**- I'm a little confused. Do you want to BETA? Cause I do need one (or several ^_^) for this fic.

**Tomoyo Sakura**- aww!!! Thanks again for being such a loyal reader.

**shadow star**- yea, I had fun writing the beginning! ::grins:: I'm such an e-vile person! :D And as for the dialogues... well, I sat through DB with a note pad the second time I saw it. The 3rd time, I basically had alot of it memorized. :D

**starfury3000**- Thanks! Sorry again for the delay.

**Vaderboy**- ::blushes:: aww thank you!

**Sailor Bree**- ::grins:: Well, it took awhile but here it is!

**Katlin Grace**- aww! Thank you so much for reading. Btw, when are *you* going to update. ::glares menacingly:: j/k

**sailorbardock1980**- wow thanks!

**solarmistress17**- ::gulps:: It hasn't been that long, has it? ::glances at screen:: No! See, it's been less than 3 weeks. So ha! :P

**Clytia**- ::grins:: Yep!

**Erika**- ::shudders:: Noooooo. I despise Mamo-baka. Nooooooo. Not a chance. :D

**MarsMoonStar**- hehehe. Thanks!

**Angel123292**- wow thank you! But where's your email? Maybe it's my computer, but I can't read it. Gomen nasi.

Domo arigatou to everyone. I really hope this chapter does disappoint you. ::grins nervously::

"..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted, ... is Fate. Remember to review and be sure to read the AN at the end. Thanks!

************************************************************************************************************

The silence was unbearable. Though there was no noise the soundlessness seemed to dig into the brain. Many went insane after only a few minutes. But the Shi no Tenshi continued onward.

She was used to the eerie silence of Tizui. Through all her lonely years, she had learned that returning to Tizui not only strengthened her mental capabilities, but also lessened some of the pain of solitude. Though nothing stirred on the dead planet (its inhabitants having died out long ago), the silence seemed a distraction and a temporary relief. Everywhere else there were reminders-- happy families, laughing friends, even her enemies had comrades. But she was alone. Alone forever.

****Flashback****

Sailor Cosmos was on her knees in pain as Chaos laughed maniacally above her. Her senshi lay around her, dead or dying. She could feel their life energy slipping away.

Above, Chaos prepared her last strike.

Cosmos shut her eyes. 'So this is how it ends,' she thought. 'We will all die and the universe will be doomed.'

Is that so? said a voice in her head.

'Nande?!' she thought.

Giving up so soon?

'There is nothing else I can do.'

Are you so sure?

'I... I think so.'

What about your friends?

'I... They.... Who are you?' she asked almost angrily.

You would know me as Fate.

'What can I do? I will do anything for my senshi.'

You should be careful with that word.

'But I really mean it! I would destroy myself if I thought it would save them.'

It won't. But there is something you can do.

'Onegai, please tell me! Their time is running out!'

The voice laughed. If you haven't noticed, Time has been frozen, for the moment.

It was indeed true. Chaos was still with her blast suspended in the air a meter from Cosmos' face. There was no movement, no noise. All was silent and empty. Cosmos gulped.

'Just please return them to their normal lives. Do with me as you will.'

The voice paused and considered this offer. Very well then. They will be taken care of. But you have a different role to play. There is much Evil in the universe. It grows will the Good lessens. You must counter this evil to maintain the Balance.

'Demo that's what I've been doing as a senshi!'

Yes... In a way. But the universe is a large place.

'Just take care of my friends. I will do whatever you command.'

Very well. Your powers will increase and multiply. As soon as Chaos is destroyed, your friends will awaken. And then you will begin your campaign to oppose the Evil.

'Hai. I will. Demo, one last thing.'

Yes? The voice sounded impatient.

'What about my destiny?'

Ah yes. Destiny, my lesser and much less reliable twin. Her ways are a mystery, for destinies are never permanent and always liable to change.

Time was resuming. 'But what about Chibi Usa?' she cried desperately.

But the voice was gone. She was admits the battle with Chaos again. It seemed in slow motion that the blast approached her. She easily got out of the ways as Time returned to its regular measure.

Having put most of her energy into the last attack, Chaos was weak. With little difficulty, owing to Cosmos' new powers and strength, Chaos was destroyed.

The bodies of her senshi shimmered and disappeared. It was then that Cosmos first became aware of her sixth sense, her ability to know things without knowing how she knew them. It was often in finding weaknesses in her enemies, but this time it told her something else. Fate had taken her request literally. The senshi would be returned to normal human lives, without worries of fighting evil or sailor business.

Cosmos turned to face the stars. She would be alone. In her first experimentation with her heightened teleportation powers, she disappeared to begin her new career.

****End Flashback****

Recently, memories had been invading her thoughts and interrupting her ability to think straight. That is why she had returned to Tizui. The Memories-- of her final visit to her father, Pluto taking her away, and the beginnings of her life as Sailor Moon-- kept coming back. She had hoped that the Silence of Tizui would help. Instead, it dispelled all thought but the Memories themselves. After all, the dead planet was a memory itself.

She entered an old cave, the one place in the entire universe that she could even remotely call her home. After all, the few times she was there were usually attempts to entirely forget the rest of the universe-- something she was never allowed to do. Her duty always remained.

She looked down at her scarred and calloused hands. Her once creamy skin was tanned and more durable, hardened from ice and fire alike.

With physical and mental scars, she was reminded daily that she was not immortal. Though gifted, or rather cursed as she saw it, with a long life and many superhuman powers, she would still die one day. Being cursed also with the inability to kill herself and to almost always destroy her foes, it would likely be from old age than from the hand of another. But she often looked towards that day with longing, seeing it as a way out of the horror she called life.

~o~o~

It was the next morning. She was out walking and trying to clear her mind when she sensed it. Or perhaps felt it is the better word. For she did not sense by ki or anything connected with a life force or using the mind. Rather, her very skin tingled. There was a new threat in the universe.

In an instant, she summoned her staff, and with a flash she was gone. If someone had asked, she could not have said where she went. She merely followed evil's trail.

~o~o~

In a shimmer, she reappeared on some distant planet. She glanced around for the enemy and noticed the smoldering remains of houses.

"Not again," she sighed. "Another primitive people that can't stop a wild monster on a rampage. Why am I here? It's not a threat to the universe! Sure it'll kill some people, maybe even destroy a whole nation or threaten the entire country, but it couldn't leave the planet if it wanted to. They're always the same. And it gets old very fast. Why can't there be more variety?" she pleaded to no one in particular.

It didn't take long to find the creature. She did get a bit of a surprise though. Before her seemed to be something out of childhood legends. She had never before been so clearly reminded of a part of her past when facing an enemy. Yet the mauve creature before her, with the exception of a second neck and no visible wings, was what would clearly be called a dragon.

Most of her other opponents had varying descriptions. They ranged from enormous to microscopic, stupid to ingenious, powerful to pitiful. She once had to destroy an entire race of turtles that burped explosive bubbles as well as a group of giants that lost on of their two million heads every time they gained a grain of intelligence. (Combined with their stupidity and ability to not get any smarter, these randomly falling heads became very threatening to the people living there).

Of course, there were the occasional truly evil ones. They usually came every three years or so, and the Shi no Tenshi had to work her butt off to stop them. She always succeeded, though.

The most recent still gave her chills. She had been captured while battling a lesser villain. It seemed to true mastermind, a short feminine-sounding creature called Frieza, wanted to use her in his evil plot to control the universe. She was kept locked up and tortured daily. After a few weeks, a lucky break gave her the chance she needed to escape. She had hidden in meditation for almost a month, gathering her powers and strengthening herself to destroy him.

But as she was about to set out, she suddenly could no longer sense him. She waited for the Feeling, for that is what she called it, to return, but it never did. By this she theorized that he, whether dead or not, must no longer be a threat to the Balance and the universe, for whatever reason.

That was ten years ago. An evil villain was long overdue.

About three years after that, the Feeling came again. It began as an almost unnoticeable tingle and gradually grew. Eventually it became like a constant stab in the back. The Shi no Tenshi was forced to pay attention.

But there is a limit even for the Shi no Tenshi. Even she cannot jump instantaneously across the vast and seemingly endless universe. She hurriedly teleported from galaxy to galaxy, but as she neared the Feeling vanished. Not even a tingling sensation remained. She lingered for days, but it never returned.

And now she stared up at the mauve dragon before her. What a pushover.

She shoved her way through the shocked crowds and pushed the brave male who poked at the creature (and was about to be toasted) roughly aside.

She looked up at the dragon and began to twirl her staff in a blur of colors.

_"Celestial . . . . . . Moondust . . . . . . _Elimination!"

She slammed the glowling staff into the earth not far from the dragon's scaly foot. The ground split and yawned to form a crack, which traveled like wildfire along the ground. When it reached the scaly monster, it changed course. The crack began to travel up the dragon's leg. The creature howled in agony as the crevice split it into two. The gap yawned and widened, and the entire creature became two pieces, which dissolved into iridescent sparkles and floated away.

She sighed and turned, preparing to leave, when she met a girl with deep violet orbs staring up at her. The Shi no Tenshi was suddenly painfully reminded of another young girl she knew long ago.

"He was only hungry," said the girl accusingly.

"Wh-What?"

"He was looking for food."

"Girl, I just saved your life. He could have killed you!"

"So? It was our fault that we were greedy and destroyed his food supply. Besides, he doesn't like the taste of my people."

". . . Why are you accusing me?"

"Because you killed a perfectly good creature due to a problem which could have been solved easily if you'd bothered to be patient and listen."

Something suddenly dawned in the mind of the Eliminator, and she almost ran from the scene, teleporting as she went.

Back on Tizui, she let her mind sift it out. So that's why she was the Shi no Tenshi: Her solution was always destruction. She'd never even considered other solutions. 

Of course, elimination guaranteed no return. It was the best solution after all, though most peoples didn't favor it too much.

But it wasn't the words of the girl that bothered the Shi no Tenshi-- they were enlightening, but she didn't care much about what people thought. She would do her job and do it well. No, it was the girl's eyes, the deep purple orbs. Hotaru's eyes. Except, this Hotaru hated her. A single tear slid down her cheek. What had she done?

************************************************************************************************************

AN: Well that's the first chappie of My Duty. Next chap is Back to Earth, but will be some delay. If there's any Buu experts out there, I need your help. I'm looking for fans who know the Buu saga well to BETA read for me. I'm currently cursed with only access to the dubs, and I've missed quite a few episodes. So, as this fic will be following the Buu saga in later chapters (What? You hadn't guessed? ^^;; ), I want to make sure I get it right. Please email me at Callistostar786@hotmail.com if you can help! Domo arigatou.

Thank you to everyone who read this. Please leave a review! Arigatou. Ja!

~Calli-chan


	14. The Feeling

AN: ::looks around sheepishly and tries to dodge the flying veggies:: Uh, heh heh... gomen?

School has been incredibly hard and sports and too many activities are far too time consuming. Spring break was no break at all with practice all day, and I am already crazed with summer!fever. But that's still not a very good excuse for me, because I had the majority of the chapter written before Christmas. It took me more than four months to write three pages!!!! ARGH!!!! Baka writer's blocks.

So I'd like to really thank all of those wonderful amazing people that have been following this fic, and especially those that come back for this chapter again. Domo arigato to all who reviewed last time: sailorball, Usagi Asia Maxwell, angel, Breonna104, AngelDust159, Cosmic Dream Reader, Serenity, Taiyo's Tenchi, Mystical Jade, Cecelia, AnimePrincess, Princess Niobe, L-AnGel, Tomoyo Sakura, sailorbardock1980, MarsMoonStar, shadow star, Erika, Anthony, solarmistress17, Mary Bachiu, erika, Sailor Bree. You guys really kept me going!

Thank you especially to Mystical Jade and Tomoyo Sakura anyone else who BETAed for me or helped me with Buu. Domo arigato for your time and help!! Still looking for any more Buu experts out there-- I want to stay as true to the anime as possible, but I admit I haven't seen the full saga (haven't even gotten to watch that many of the toonami dubs!). So though I have a general idea, I need some help. Thank you!

And without further ramblings and apologies, here's what you've been waiting for: FINALLY, chapter 14! Enjoy!!!

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

She awoke in her cave on Tizui with a groan. She slowly got up, easing her aching body out of the bed.

It felt like she had been beaten up by a hoard of youma. Or slept on a rock. Well, in actuality she had, but she'd been doing the same for more than twenty years.

She went outside and began her daily stretches. The silence of the dead planet seemed especially oppressive and, for the first time in many years, almost unbearable.

The aching didn't go away. If anything, it worsened.

She ate some breakfast, trying to ignore it, and sketched a map of the neighboring galaxies in the gray sand. She randomly pointed a finger at a sketch to choose where to travel to next.

Suddenly she doubled over in pain. It was as if the ache knew it was being ignored and wanted to draw her attention back to itself. It suddenly clicked in her brain that that was exactly what had happened. It was the Feeling again. And this sense of something being wrong was even stronger than it had been seven years ago.

With a look of grim determination, she summoned her staff as the pain, as if recognizing it had been identified, subsided and her sixth sense to evil kicked in and acted like a compass. She turned to fast northwest and with a final glance at the dull cave, vanished from the dead planet.

~*~*~*~

Time meant nothing to her. She teleported and appeared in solar systems light years away. The next instant, she vanished from that system as well.

How long this cycle of appearing and disappearing went on, she had no idea. The source of the evil was many billion light years from Tizui. The distance was far and her body grew tired from the constant galaxy hops, but she would not give into fatigue. She paused an extra moment on a fertile planet to catch a breath of fresh clean air. The next moment, she vanished from the spot.

~*~*~*~

She was in the source's galaxy now. She had no idea which galaxy it was (after all, there are far too many that are similar to memorize them all), the Feeling simply told her that this was the one. It appeared to be a spiral galaxy, most likely with a black hole in its center. This did not hinder the Shi no Tenshi though.

But somehow it seemed familiar. Something about a cauldron and a battle... She pushed the thought aside. She had a mission to complete. She located the system and the planet on the outskirts of the galaxy and teleported to it.

~*~*~*~

It was desert-like and rocky. She hid behind a rock to observe for a moment. Once again, she thanked Kami that her Lunarian heritage hid her ki.

A short spiky haired man faced what looked like a giant pink marshmallow. An insect-like creature cheered from the side. Evil seemed to radiate in waves off all three of these figures. But she knew they were all strong. Dangerously strong. And though she despised her life, she would not throw it away so easily. She fought for the universe, not herself. 'Besides,' she thought to herself with a grim smirk, 'the fates would probably just bring me back to make my life even more of a living hell.' She waited.

Two boys ran towards the man. One looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't be sure without seeing his face. The man said something to the boys and knocked them both out. Behind the rock, the Shi no Tenshi almost jumped up angrily and stormed down to teach the man a lesson. Almost. Something held her back, like a hand pressing down on her shoulders. Something the violet-eyed girl had told her...

The man looked grimly towards the marshmallow. She could feel his life-force pulsing weakly, yet it was still strong for a common mortal. "Time to end this," he muttered with determination.

With a roar, he gathered a great mass of energy into his hands. So great that even the Shi no Tenshi had to shield her eyes. And light was brilliant and the power was mind-boggling.

"This is for you, Trunks! And for you, Bulma!" he cried, as he launched the mighty blast at the pink monster.

The blast consumed the monster. But it also consumed the man.

"Oh no you don't," muttered the Shi no Tenshi. "I can't have you blowing yourselves up when I have yet to discover your true nature." [Good or Evil]

She clutched the staff firmly as she first pointed it toward the man as he blasted the marshmallow. _"Amin telath mecombia,"_ she murmured in the long-lost tongue of the moon. She felt some of her own life-force being taken by the staff and converted to energy for the man to protect his flesh. _"Lle coramovin aih. Ron salothimo vient."_

Her breathing slowed but remained steady as she watched the last of the silvery droplets of life being absorbed into the mortal's body. The man fell to the ground unconscious- alive, but even with the gift of more energy, completely drained. 

The Shi no Tenshi panted for breath. He was particularly strong and it had taken a lot of energy to maintain his life. She turned towards the now atomized marshmallow and prepared to repeat the process. _"Amin tel--"_

"All right, Majin Buu," interrupted the insect wizard. "Come back now."

The Shi no Tenshi paused and watched as the pink blobs obediently reassembled themselves. As she watched the marshmallow, Majin Buu, reshape below, she began to see the figures below more clearly. It was obvious that the man was fighting Buu. But why? Was he the rebellious servant of an evil overlord? But who was the overlord? It became clear in the eyes of the Shi no Tenshi that the man was not purely evil. Like many mortals, he held both forces inside of him and both constantly fought for control. But it seemed that the Good in him was dominant, only masked now by an outward cover of Evil. The regrowing marshmallow was similar. Two forces, split equally into two parts, seemed to work together (for now) inside of him: Innocent Child-like Goodness and Murderous Greedy Evil. The Shi no Tenshi could not determine which was dominant. It was the insect who appeared the most consumed by Evil. In her mind's eye, the Shi no Tenshi could detect no hint of Goodness inside of him. Yet, strangely, his ki was the weakest of the figures below. Had he somehow manipulated the Innocence of the marshmallow to do his work, she wondered.

The insect was instructing Majin Buu below. "He's only knocked out, so finish him off," he called. "Make chocolate of him!"

Buu grinned evilly. The single antenna on his head began to glow as it was pointed at the vulnerable unconscious body.

"Time to make my grand entrance," muttered the Shi no Tenshi sarcastically. 

In an instant, she teleported in front of the body with an energy-absorbant bubble around herself. Buu had already launched his magic and the blast was simply absorbed. He looked at her, confused.

"Hello Majin Buu," she said almost cheerfully, as if she were talking to a child.

"Kill her, kill her, kill her!" screamed the angered insect wizard. "She took away your chocolate!"

Buu's stomach grumbled loudly, and his look of confusion was replaced by one of anger. "Buu no like lady that take away chocolate!" He lunged towards her.

"Time Freeze!" she called out quickly, not wanted to be hurt but also not wanting to hurt him. The marshmallow was still, suspended in time. She turned to the insect. [AN: It's not quite the same as Puu's Freeze. This one only freezes the (one) enemy. Thus, since she was not directly fighting Babidi, he was not frozen.]

"And who would you be?" she asked, with a dangerous note in her voice.

The insect was infuriated. "Haven't you heard of me? I am the great wizard Babidi, son of Bibidi, master of the deadly Majin Buu and soon the entire Earth and galaxy. And you, woman, will pay for angering me."

The Shi no Tenshi yawned, having heard similar claims hundreds of times. "Uh huh. Now who are you again besides an annoying bug?"

Babidi growled and launched some light display at her. She dodged, but he was already chanting some other evil spell at her.

"Don't even both," she said calmly, recognizing the words and the rhythm. "They tell me I have a pure heart; you cannot win me over." She was advancing towards him, and he feared her strange attitude. "You fight with magic and your creature, with strength. Together you thought you'd make an indestructible team. But you are wrong. Even magic cannot withstand Time, and it has captured your monster. And you are left alone with me. And I warn you, I am not one part of a team. I am a loner, and I fight with both."

He launched a black force at her that would have rooted her to the spot and made her like a tree, but she dodged quickly. She magicked a protective layer around herself and launched at him in a flurry of kicks and punches. She quickly drew blood and realized that while he had great power as a magician, he had almost no physical strength. She had to be careful not to put her guard down, though, or he would be able to use his tricks on her.

She paused and surveyed her work. The insect was doubled over in pain, with black eyes and blood around his nose and mouth. It wouldn't take much more.

He suddenly stuck out his hands and shouted something in another language.

"Kuso," she muttered as the land around her began to change. He was a tricky one alright. In her pause, he'd cast an illusion spell. Not only was the landscaped cloaked in magic, he was cloaked as well. She could no longer tell where he was, and thus would be unable to dodge.

She muttered a string of curses under her breath as she circled, hoping to sense him.

Something hard and fast whammed into her stomach. She doubled over in pain.

"Ah Ah Ah. Such naughty words from such a pretty girl."

Her legs were knocked from under her, and she fell to her knees. How did he suddenly get so strong?

She tried to punch the air where she guessed he might be, but her feeble attempts were caught every time.

"I see you're not so high and mighty when I convert some of Buu's strength to my own body," he jeered.

Her invisible foe knocked her to the ground and began continuously kicking her in the stomach. She feebly tried to block, but he continued to kick. She curled up in a ball on the ground as he continued to slam into her back.

'So that's how he's doing it.' She coughed up some blood and felt a desire to pass out. 'Iie, I have to fight back. But how? With such an increase in power I should be able to sense him, even if he does appear invisible.'

She closed her eyes as she felt him stop kicking her. Not knowing how to sense ki, she had always relied on her sixth sense to Feel the evil presence. The only problem was it required great concentration to be able to Feel it.

She was curled up on the ground, a bloody ball. Where was Babidi? Was he about to finish her off? What new tricks were hidden up his sleeve?

Suddenly, she Felt him and she knew. He was gathering his energy for a finishing move. Well, it wasn't over yet.

Though she could see nothing, she could Feel the giant black orb released towards her. With only a second to spare, she jumped up and flipped out of the way.

"Cosmic Light Revolution," she countered, pointing her staff towards the unseen wizard. A bright powerful white light shot out of the end of the staff to counter the blackness; she could Feel Babidi shielding himself from the sudden intense light.

Using his unawareness to her advantage, she quickly transformed her staff into a sword and ran towards the source of the black orb on his unprotected side. Not caring what she came in contact with, she began slashing the sword wildly through the air and plunging and slicing.

She heard a scream as she jabbed into something harder and pulled the sword downwards.

The illusion faded, and the rocky landscape reappeared. She now understood why. The insect wizard Babidi lay unconscious on the ground with blood on his tunic, clutching the stump of his right arm.

The pink blob, Majin Buu, was still frozen in Time. The spiky-haired man was still unconscious, as were the two children nearby.

She slowly made her way over to the three, leaning heavily on her staff as if it were a walking stick. [AN: no longer a sword] She was bloody and beaten up too, and she felt ready for a long silent rest on Tizui. But she couldn't rest yet. She still had plenty of work to do.

She checked the pulse of the man. It was there, barely. Yet she would not heal nor kill until she was positive which force was dominant in each of the creatures.

The children were fine, just knocked out. She didn't wake them either. Instead, she made her way over to some of the other fallen bodies on the battlefield. One short lavender-colored creature caught her attention.

She gasped as she neared and ran to his side. The Supreme Kai! What was he doing here?

She knelt down and placed her hands on his chest. The mark on her forehead began to glow, and her hands were surrounded by a silver aura as she dug into her soul to find energy to pass to him.

He groaned and his eyes fluttered open. She sat back on her heels, panting for breath. She tried to still her violently shaking hands as the world swam in her eyes. She barely managed to bow her head in respect. "Supreme Kai," she murmured as he sat up.

He rubbed his head. "What happened? Oh, I remember now. Buu gave me quite a beating. But who are you?"

She was perplexed by his question. No one had asked her that since . . . since before the battle with Chaos. Who was she? Was she the Shi no Tenshi, as she was popularly called? But that didn't seem like a proper name to give such a prominent figure in the universe.

"C- Cos-mos," she said slowly, uttering the name she hadn't used in countless years.

His eyes widened in recognition. "Then you are Serenity?"

She looked up sharply. "No. Serenity is dead."

His eyes seemed to mock her. "No, I think she is only forgotten. She is not dead yet."

Something attracted her sixth sense to the battlefield. She quickly spun around, but it all seemed the same. Kaioushin-sama looked up and laughed as he saw Buu. "Then we've finally got him, haven't we?"

Cosmos' eyes hardened. "No." It was small, barely noticeable, but it was a change. Buu's left arm had moved down. "He's breaking free."

The two sprinted back to the battlefield. "That's Vegeta," Shin explained quickly and gestured to the man as they ran by. "He doesn't seem good now, but he's actually on our side. It's Babidi and Majin Buu we need to be worried about. Except for your Time Freeze, Buu is unstoppable. Babidi is his master. He must be disposed of."

Shin ran to Babidi's body, forming a ki blast as he went. He grimly let it loose towards the creature's heart. "This is for Kibito!" he cried. Unconscious and unable to defend himself, a gaping hole was left in the former wizard's dead body. Shin spat on the corpse before turning.

Cosmos was staring at Buu. He was moving now. Slowly, as if under great pressure, but he was breaking free. She got into a fighting stance.

"Let's get this over with," she muttered grimly.

With a sudden angry scream and burst of brilliant energy, Majin Buu threw his arms backward and completely dissolved his prison of Time. 

"Buu no like lady that don't let him move!" he cried angrily, his eyes flashing and dangerous.

Cosmos was slightly shocked that Buu even recalled not being able to move (to him, no Time should have passed), but she did not let it show. "Well this lady doesn't like greedy little monsters that think with their stomachs only about themselves."

Buu's antenna shot upward and began to glow. "BUU MAKE YOU PAY!!!!!!" he screamed as he threw his head toward her and the energy blast shot out.

"Silent Wall!" called Cosmos before the blast could hit. A great dark wall of energy shot up, protecting herself and Kaioushin-sama behind her, and all the bodies left from Buu's previous battles.

Cosmos panted for breath as she struggled to keep up the wall as Buu continued to shoot out numerous smaller blasts. 'What is wrong with you?' she silently asked herself and she struggled to remain standing. 'You have done this hundreds of times. Why falter now?' _Because it has been too long since you have been so taxed of energy,_ said a nasty voice inside her head. _You have given too much to keep the others alive and now you'll fall and all your actions will be worthless. They will die anyways._

"NO!!!" she cried as she let loose a fresh wave of energy. "I won't let them be hurt!" 

The wall arched high into the sky as Buu paused, and then she let it go and it plummeted to the ground, dissolving into nothingness. Buu was taking a breather, wondering why he could not hit the strange lady.

"I am leaving, Majin Buu," she called boldly. "I have a great stash of chocolate that I want to eat and it is mine alone. Do not follow me!"

With that, she teleported to a nearby cliff and began hoping from hill to hill. For a moment, Majin Buu stared at her, perplexed, but then his childlike instincts kicked in.

"Buu gonna steal your chocolate!" he threatened as he chased after her. "Buu follow you! Buu gonna get you and you no stop Buu!!"

Kaioushin stared at her retreating figure, shocked that she would do such a thing as purposely anger and tempt a monster such as Buu. He halfheartedly tried to follow the two, but she teleported and hopped too rapidly and was soon less than a speck in the distance. 

He had heard tales of her amazing feats against foes and he had faith that she could handle Buu. But after all she had done before he had awoken, he feared she would not have the strength left. With a sigh, he reluctantly entrusted the matter to fate, knowing he could be of no further assistance.

He turned as Krillin and Piccolo ran over from where they had been amid the rocks. "Who is she?" called Piccolo harshly.

With another sigh, Kaioushin began to attempt an explanation, or all that he knew.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Miles upon miles away, Cosmos was breathing heavily as she continued to jump from cliff and rock to hill and mound. Still Buu followed close behind, eager to steal the 'chocolate'. She was alarmed that she was already exhausted, but she refused to think about it. She focused on finding an isolated spot away from people with plenty of room for potential destruction.

She paused a moment too long on the edge of a cliff, trying to catch her breath. But a strange squeal interrupted her thoughts.

Buu was hopping through the air, doing some strange dance while jumping from cliff to cliff, mimicking the Shi no Tenshi. He wore a devious smile as he hopped past her. Suddenly, before Cosmos could blink, he backtracked and stopped directly in front of her.

"Boo!" he said deviously. Cosmos did not move.

"You keep going or Buu kill you!" he warned happily with a smirk.

Cosmos made no movement again, but the top of her staff began to glow. 'I guess this spot is as good as any,' she thought as she gathered her power. "Here is your chocolate, Buu!" she called. "Cosmic Moon Elimination!!"

At such a close range, Buu had no time to dodge the great silver blast that came his way. The blast hit a shocked Buu head on.

Cosmos panted as she waited for the dust to clear to view her work. Slowly, the wind blew the cloud apart and all that met Cosmos' relieved eyes were millions of microscopic pink blobs.

'It is done then,' she thought with relief. 'Not so hard.' With a sigh she turned and prepared to depart for a rest of at least one hundred years.

Suddenly she spun around again as her instincts alerted her. The tiny pink blobs flew together and gradually reformed the monster. 

"Cosmos no baka," she muttered angrily to herself. "What were you thinking! You had already seen his amazing powers of regeneration!" She continued to mutter and curse to herself as she got in a stance and waited to Buu.

A head popped out of the mass of pink. "Boo!" said Buu happily. "Buu back. Buu get chocolate now!"

Cosmos' eyes widened as his antenna became to glow again. "Buu want chocolate!" he cried as he pointed it towards her and shot out some strange blast of magic.

Cosmos covered her face with her arms and threw up her staff in defense. Luckily, the blast that would have turned her into a mere candy bar hit the great magical object and thus ricocheted off into a cliff.

"Fatal Fury!" she countered, pointing her staff at him before he could try anything else. Buu smiled and opened his mouth wide as the spiraling golden attack approached him. In one mouthful, he swallowed the mighty attack. It filled up his body like a mighty sponge, but by pinching his nose with a smile, the power was released through all the pores in his body. Golden sparks shot into the air from every inch of the pink skin, and they dissolved in the air. Buu smiled mockingly.

She glanced up at him and wondered how she could defeat the monster. He seemed to swallow magic and loved to turn his opponents into food. If he exploded, he could simply bring himself back together. He seemed too large for physical martial arts to do much good, but there didn't seem to be much of a choice.

Cosmos dropped her hand and her staff disappeared into her sub-space pocket. "No more playing around, Buu," she called as she got into a fighting stance. She tried to appear confident, but she was breathing hard and she felt drained of all energy. She wondered how long she could hold him off.

'I can't give up,' she mentally reprimanded herself. 'If I give up, the fate of this world, strange as it is, is doomed. I am the last hope. I will conquer.'

With that, the small but powerful figure of Cosmos threw caution to the wind and launched herself at the legendary monster Majin Buu.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

AN: FYI, the strange words she said were just random elvish sounding words I put together. Doesn't really mean anything, unless you want to create a Lunarian language with that as the basis...

Thank you again everyone for reading. Hopefully the next chapter will be up a bit sooner. ^_^' Domo arigato for your continued dedication and patience. Please give me some more inspiration with a review! Thank you! Ja

~Calli-chan


	15. The Darkness

AN: ::looks fearfully into a crowd of angry reviewers:: Well... ah... this chapter's out more than 2 months early compared to the last one... ::imitates Roshi-sensei nervous laugh:: Hehe.

Yeah, I know, that's no excuse, and I'm SO SORRY I kept you all waiting so long. But a big thank you to Mystical Jade who helped me out with the saga and BETAed for me. Domo arigato!!! Review responses are at the bottom.

This chap picks up right where the last left off (Cosmos took off to fight Buu but discovered she'd have to use her fists, and Krillin and Piccy bombarded Kaioushin with questions). Enjoy!

************************************************************************************************************

"She is the princess of a dead race," said Krillin, disbelieving, "who has become the Sailor Cosmos, guardian of the universe, and must forever fight against evil? Sounds like one tough life."

"It is," said Kaioushin-sama with a sigh. "She isolates herself to a degree that would be torture to a common human. And with her only remaining purpose in life to destroy, she has become feared by those she protects, naming her the Shi no Tenshi. If I am right, it is this name that she usually uses herself, finding it most fitting for who she has become."

"The Shi no Tenshi?" said Krillin with surprise bordering on fear. "The Angel of Death? Are you... are you sure she's on our side then?"

"No need to fear, Krillin," assured Kaioushin. "She may destroy, but she destroys to rid the world of evil. Kind of like the purpose of the Z Senshi."

"But then... what *is* her name?" asked Krillin questioningly. "I mean, surely she had a name before 'Sailor Cosmos'."

Kaioushin frowned. "Yes, she was Serenity-hime long ago, but she seems to take offense to that name. I cannot understand why. When she was reborn, she surely had a mortal name as well, but that name has been lost to history. The sailor senshi were renowned, but their true identities were never known. The only way to discover her true name is to ask her herself, I suppose." 

Krillin shuddered at the thought. "What, and have her blast my head off just for asking? Nah, I'll stay oblivious, thanks."

Piccolo was looking away to the distance. "Her ki..." he murmured turning quickly to face the Supreme Kai and Krillin. "Her ki, where is it?!"

Suddenly all three were facing the direction she had gone, trying desperately to sense the ki of the strange Sailor Cosmos. "I feel Buu's, of course," muttered Krillin with frustration, "and there seems to be something happening to him cause it keeps fluctuating. But where is she?!"

"We've got to go!" said Kaioushin suddenly. "She's probably never faced an opponent like Majin Buu before and won't know what to expect. Besides, she already healed myself and Vegeta as well as destroying Babidi, and I'm not sure how much more she can take."

"G-go to M-Majin Buu?" shuddered Krillin. 

"Yes!" said Kaioushin launching into the air with Piccolo right behind him. With one last look at the unconscious bodies of Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten, Krillin reluctantly took off after them.

~o~o~o~o~

'Is this death?' thought Cosmos as she tasted the sweetness of blood in her mouth. She had tried attacking Majin Buu using her fists, but she knew she wouldn't be able to go on long. She had no energy left now. Buu was tossing her around as if she was nothing more than a rag doll, and he was becoming increasingly bored. 'How much longer will this go on?' she wondered as she hit the ground and tasted dirt once more. She didn't even have the energy to stand up this time. 'How much longer until I'll see my dear senshi again, or at least be able to watch over them?'

Her body was black and blue with numerous open wounds on her face, arms, legs, back, and chest. She could not see any more. The extreme loss of blood and energy took its toll as she succumbed to the wonderful silent darkness...

She did not feel as Buu slammed her body into a cliff. Nor as he became angered and blasted the cliff so that the rocks collapsed on top of her. Nor as he stormed off, in a fit of rage, to demolish an entire city and eat thousands of chocolate bars...

~o~o~o~o~

Krillin, for one, felt relieved when he felt Majin Buu's ki moving away from them, especially now that they were so close. But Kaioushin-sama was very concerned that this signaled the end of the battle and it's victor's departure. Increasing his speed, he sped down to the cluster of cliffs where he sensed the battle had taken place.

Circling the area and seeing no one, he quickly spotted the collapsed cliff and headed for it. "There!" he cried as he flew down and desperately began throwing rocks aside. Piccolo and Krillin joined him on either side, but the more boulders they threw aside, the more seemed to slide down and take their place.

Piccolo gave up and began blasting the boulders on the top of the pile. "No!!!" cried Kaioushin. "You'll cause another rock slide!" 

"We're careful," said Krillin as he, too, gave up and started blasting boulders. After several more minutes of hopelessly tossing rocks aside, the Supreme Kai gave up and did the same.

"Are we even sure she's under this mess?" asked Krillin as the pile became slowly smaller as the boulders exploded. 

"No," admitted Kaioushin, "but it's the best bet we've got. Buu's energy is lower so they're not still fighting, and I highly doubt that they unanimously agreed to end the battle and simply walked away from each other. We can't be sure without having a ki to sense, but have you got any better ideas."

"Nope," admitted Krillin as he blasted another cluster of boulders.

~o~o~o~o~

An hour or more later, they were nearing the ground level. They could no longer blast the boulders away for fear of destroying her body. The trio flew among the rocks and threw them aside, trying to find the person below it all.

At last, Krillin glimpsed a bit of silver hair. They pushed the rocks out of the way to find that by some miracle of fate, she had been spared from the worst of the rockslide. Two boulders leaned against each other, forming a triangle shape that supported the weight of the boulders above and prevented her body from crushing. Her body lay between the two great rocks- bruised and battered, but breathing... barely.

"We've got to get her to Dende!" cried Piccolo.

"Listen," ordered Kaioushin-sama, "I'm the fastest flyer. [AN: Dunno if that is true but oh well.] You two go back and get Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten and see if you can find Gohan or Goku. I'll take Cosmos to the Lookout." With a nod, the three took off in opposite directions.

~o~o~o~o~

Darkness. Wonderful silent soothing darkness. No one can hurt you in the darkness. Not when you're all alone in the darkness...

Then... Light! The bright light slicing into the dark world. The intruder, ruining the perfect solitude. 

Movement. She was moving. Someone was lifting her, moving her from her wonderful silent solitude. No! So close! She was so close to remaining in darkness forever and now they were moving her from it. But she had no strength to retaliate. She slipped fully into the darkness once more...

... Then once more. The Light. The Sound. The Laughter. Something soft, instead of her firm bed from before. Cushions. Where was she? Slowly she opened her eyes.

Everything was hazy. It seemed to be a small round room somewhere. She was in a bed with many pillows. It was too soft and very uncomfortable, unlike the wonderful rocky bed of her solitude.

The room swam in front of her eyes. Laughter again. Two figures ran by. One seemed to have purple hair and the other... familiar dark hair at odd angles. Darkness was overtaking her again. Why was he familiar? But before it could claim her fully, she realized who had just ran by, she recognized his voice. "Goku..." she whispered. Then everything went black.

************************************************************************************************************

AN: It's true that Cosmos is supposed to be the powerful guardian of the universe, but have you any idea how large the universe is? One person couldn't do it all, and Frieza was the strongest opponent she had previously come against (and we all know how Buu compares to Frieza...) It's possible that she could have destroyed Buu if she had been at full power and pushed to her ultimate potential, but she was weak and drained of a lot of energy. Her body has never been so drained before, and it will take awhile until she fully recovers (thus the passing in and out of consciousness). Hope that makes some sense.

And now, Review Responses!

**Lady Firefly**- ^_^" Yeah, the weird Lunarian stuff is based loosely on the Grey Company Elvish. I admit I was writing that part of the chapter when I was making myself memorize the pronouns... but really, besides those pronouns, the 'Lunarian' is just gibberish. And maybe I'll see if we could bring in Mirai sometime in the future... ;D

**Neo-Cystal**- ::cowers:: Well, I'm trying to be faithful to the saga, but... ah... there was a chibi Goku in this chap! Does that count? ^_^" Don't worry, he'll show up soon enough (as in, next time... ::wink::)

**sayin_girl**- Thank you very much!! And don't worry, this story isn't abandoned. I know basically what is going to happen, but I'm having some problems getting that together and down on paper, you know what I mean? Hopefully next time I can get it out sooner. ^_^"

**Katlin Grace**- ::is flattered:: I'm glad you liked that last chap so much, especially since it took me so long to write (it's a curse to get writer's block in the middle of a chapter!). And as for Goku... well, we all know he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, though we love him dearly. It might take him awhile to make the connection, but... ::winks, but can't say more:: 

**Erika**- Well actually Goten does look familiar... there were subtle hints last time, but she never really got a good look at him. As you shall see, it will take awhile before she stops calling Goten "Goku". ^_^'

**Christine**- 'Shi no Tenshi' means the 'Angel of Death'. Thanks!

Thanks also to:

**shadow star**

**erika**

**CTMW **

**sailorball**

**angel**

**Usagi Asia Maxwell**

**DaughterofDeath**

**Anthony**

**Sailor Bree**

**Dark Topaz**

**MarsMoonStar**

**cecilia**

**Katrina**

**seishi**

**Mizz Dustkeeper**

**AnimePrincess**

Domo arigato minna-chan! Next time (which should be out even sooner!) she meets the Z gang. Thank you for reading and please review. Ja!

~Calli-chan


	16. The Lookout

AN: Hey, you gotta admit, it's not as bad as last time! Here's another update for all you wonderful amazing reviewers! Thank you so much, Review Responses are at the bottom. Thank you especially to all my wonderful BETAs that have made this possible. DOMO ARIGATO!!!! And Without further ado, here's chapter 16!

*************************************************************

She opened her eyes groggily and slowly the room settled into focus, the strange stone room and well-cushioned bed. She shifted her weight, feeling very uncomfortable in the overly soft bed. Reaching behind her back, she grabbed several pillows and tossed them across the room in an attempt to make the bed firmer.

No such luck. With a sigh, she gave up and rolled herself down to the floor.

'Much better,' she thought, savoring the cool solid firmness below her back as she lay there.

After several minutes, she opened her eyes again as her memory slowly came back. Why was she here? She had been battling that monster, Majin Buu. Or more correctly, he had been battering her. She should be dead now! But instead she had found herself in this strange stone room, who knows where.

She eyed the door. Would it be locked? What would be behind it? Would there be someone to give her answers?

'Only one way to find out,' she thought as she moved towards the door and turned the knob. Soundlessly, it slid open.

She slipped into the hall, and with no sense of direction, she did a quick ini-mini-mieni-mo and turned right. 

After more wandering, she could hear distant voices. She followed the sounds in hopes that they could explain things. The murmur of voices silenced as two voices shouted something in unison. She couldn't make out the words, but if she could only find the origin of their voices . . . 

"You're finally up!"

She spun around quickly to see a small green figure--a Namek, she concluded--looking up at her. He seemed friendly enough, but she got into a fighting stance just in case. "Where am I?" she demanded.

He bowed politely but didn't answer her question directly. "Welcome to the Lookout, Cosmos-san. I am Dende, the Guardian of Earth. Kaioushin-sama brought you here after--"

"Wait a minute," she interrupted, relaxing her stance. "This is Earth? *The* Earth?"

Dende looked politely confused. "Hai. This is the only Earth I know of."

A thousand thoughts flew through her mind. Earth. After so many years, finally Earth. She had never even dared hope that she might one day find her way through the maze of the universe back to the planet where her life as a sailor soldier began. Would the senshi be reborn? Would she recognize them? Would they remember her? [AN: She thinks she has come back to the SM Earth, but as will be explained later, she didn't realize how fluid the dimensions are in deep space.]

"Miss?" asked a worried Dende as he looked up at her wide eyes while her breathing cam in short gasps.

"Where is Kaioushin?" she asked again suddenly, regaining her composure despite the shock.

Dende looked almost guilty. "He stayed as long as he could. He was very grateful for all your help, but after much delay he could stay no longer."

"How long have I been out?" she interrupted with surprise.

Dende looked down. "Five days," he admitted. "Kaioushin-sama left yesterday morning to train one of our warriors to defeat Majin Buu."

Cosmos' eyes widened in surprise. "Warriors?"

"A group of elite fighters that protect Earth from evil," explained Dende. Cosmos' breathing quickened again; it was sounding more and more like the sailor senshi. Could she have been mistaken all those years ago? Had they perhaps returned to their lives as warriors?

"Actually, it's about time you met them," Dende was saying as he began to walk down the hall. Cosmos hurriedly followed. "They've been at it for awhile, trying to perfect a fusion between the two boys," he explained as they walked.

More questions flooded her mind, but she refused to allow any of them to reach her lips. She forced herself to be patient as she neared the room.

"Fu...sion... HA!!" 

A crowd was gathered around two boys who were attempting an intricate dance that ended with their forefingers touching. One was strange and unknown, but the other . . .

There was no mistaking him.

He seemed to be several years younger than she remembered, but his hair was the same untamable mess as always. His face was innocent and pure, though frustrated at this point in time. 

Her eyes threatened to water as she silently cursed the differing time flow of the dimension. How could she let him see her like this, after what she had become?

And then it hit her. How was he here?

Her mind raced to come up with possible solutions, but as she looked around the room, it all became clear. This was not the world of Tokyo, youmas, and the sailor senshi. This was Chikyuu, the world she was born into, the world of talking turtles, martial arts, and ape-boys.

Her eyes watered. She wiped them quickly and inconspicuously before any tears could fall.

But how did she get here? Was the universe really so huge that it contained multiple dimensions?

Yes. She realized it now. She had always thought of each dimension having its own separate universe. But in the big picture, it is all the same Universe. One dimension's universe overlaps another's overlaps another's overlaps another's, creating a limitless Universe. Using magic, one can unknowingly pass through the fluid dimensional boundaries of deep space. Somehow in her endless travels and teleportations, she must have unknowingly strayed into the dimension of her birth, to be led home . . .

She forced herself to focus on the present as she realized that Dende had called attention to himself and her. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst.

"Everyone," Dende said clearly as they stopped what they were doing and gathered around. "This is Cosmos, the one who helped us with Buu."

"Cosmos? That's a strange name?" she heard a familiar voice say from the side of the crowd, followed by the crack of a frying pan on his head and a groan. "Cosmos-san," Dende was saying, "this is everyone."

He proceeded to lead her among the crowd of warriors that she would later know as the Z senshi. She was reintroduced to the man she had saved, Vegeta, though he continued to scowl angrily at her.

"And this is Juuhachigou and Marron and Krillin..."

Cosmos gave a start when she heard that name. Could it be? But no, this short black-haired man could not be the same bald cueball that she trained with all those years ago... could he?

"...and Piccolo and Trunks and Goten..."

Unconsciously, Cosmos breathed a sigh of relief. This boy was merely a look-alike and not Goku at all! Yet something sunk within her, something that left her feeling disappointed and empty.

"And here's Videl and ChiChi and Goku."

Cosmos gasped, and her face blanched. This could be no coincidence of names. This was the same Goku, the same boyish face and crazy hair, just several feet taller. Even his orange gi was the same.

"Cosmos-san?" said Dende with concern.

"He... I- I have heard of him," she struggled, finally regaining control of her emotions and offering the first explanation she could think of. Goku smiled that familiar loveable boyish grin and laughed with a hand behind his head. "Well, thanks!"

The man called Yamcha-- who Cosmos suddenly realized was the same Yamcha from all those years before-- suddenly jumped in. "Well, of course you've heard of him. He's only the greatest fighter of all time in the entire universe!"

The crowd laughed cheerfully, oblivious to Cosmos' silent masked agony. It was then that she noticed the halo above Goku's head. He was dead?! A million thoughts raced though her head again, and her breathing came in frightened gasps as Dende steered her on to another person. 'The boy Goten... none could look so familiar and not be related. He must be his son! And the woman beside him, was that his wife?' Somehow, Cosmos felt betrayed deep within her. 'It's only natural for him,' she rationalized silently. 'After all, I would have married Mamoru if Fate hadn't gotten in the way. And the Usagi he knew, the Usagi who promised him she would return, is no more. It is good that he didn't waste his life waiting for her,' she concluded and tried to convince herself as Dende introduced "Roshi-sensei", the man Cosmos knew as 'Daddy'. He eyed her short skirt appreciatively and Cosmos found herself wishing for her old gi.

'And yet,' she found herself wondering as she looked beyond the hentai thoughts of her father to the lonely man within, 'is she really dead? Or is she still in there, in me, somewhere... Can I reclaim the life I once had?'

***************************************************************************

AN: As of now, no one has recognized her. She looks very different than she did all those years ago when she was a cheerful chibi girl with golden hair and tanner skin. Now she is taller, silent, silver-haired and pale, and almost menacing. The odangoes are the only hint, and Krillin and Goku knew nothing of Usagi's life as Sailor Moon or Serenity (only of Cosmos' life from what Kaioushin told them). And Kaioushin is off with Gohan if you're wondering. And now, Review Responses!

**LightAngel**- Well, you gotta remember that the last time Krillin and Goku saw Usagi, they were all chibi and looked quite different from what they do today. Plus, Goku and Krillin thought Usagi was gone forever, lost in some differnent realm, and as the years went by they gave up hope of ever seeing her again. Eventually they truth will come out, but for now even Roshi has shut away his memories and can't recognize his now silver-haired daughter. And if I remember correctly, they were all out of senzu beans after the Buu battle. I could be wrong, but oh well. Thanks!

**solarmistress17**- ::cowers:: Er, he he... gomen? I've updated sooner this time, really I have! ::tries to look proud and mighty, but fails miserably::

**Gackt Camui**- mwhaha!!! Thank you so much! Sorry again bout the cliff. ^_^" 

**AngelDust159**- ::wink:: Nope. Yeah, I suppose I could do that, but that will be cruel! Unfortunately, it will be quite awhile till she can get together with Goku-kun again.

**Eternal Cosmos**- Woohoo! Goku/Usagi! Whee! You betta believe it! ;-P

Thank you also to:

**dragonmoon**

**angel313**

**The Kuro no Tenshi**

**Eo**

**Erika7**

**AlyRain**

**Riuka**

**Tomoyo chan1**

**mayoujou**

Thank you for your continued dedication, and please review. Domo arigato, minna-chan! Ja!

~Calli-chan


	17. The Sense

AN: This seems forced, but you all deserve a new chapter. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!! I was so thrilled by the overwhelming number of reviews... you are truly the reason that this chapter is here. Gomen nasi that it isn't longer (you really deserve longer, but I didn't want you to wait any longer). So this chapter is dedicated to you all, who continue to remain faithful to this fic, though updates have become so rare. You all mean so much to me; thank you for your patient dedication as I continue to delay. ^_^"

Thank you again to all my wonderful BETAs. You really help me along.Domo arigato minna-chan for the huge response. And without further ado, onto the fic!

**************************************

The tile of the floor was cool beneath her legs, but her mind was abuzz with activity. She took several deep steadying breaths to a set rhythm as she sought to calm herself.

She had sought solitude as soon as possible, away from the crowd of people that haunted her past. Evasively, she had dodged their questions (though many seemed fearful to ask what they really wanted to know) until Dende had insisted she needed more rest and sent her away. Contrary to his orders, she had wandered to the edge of the Lookout, the farthest point she could find from the room where the boys were training.

Her legs were crossed and her eyes squeezed tightly shut, but still she struggled to find her focus. Never had meditation been so difficult before. But now, with everything changing from one end of the spectrum to the other in a matter of moments... realizing she had somehow returned to Earth, anxiously awaiting her senshi, finding those of her distant past--a younger Goku, a married dead Goku, fusion, evil wizards, marshmellows destroying cities . . .

No. She forced herself to stop, to calm, to focus. She needed to sift through this confusion and retain a level head. She still had her duty before her. There was still Majin Buu to reckon with.

The base of her head continued to ache softly as Majin Buu wandered free, wrecking havoc, without her stopping him. She Felt as he consumed entire cities, turned into mere chocolate bars, and simply blasted others once he was full. Each life lost was another swift sharp pinch in the base of her mind. And the aching Feeling of evil unconfronted continued to throb in her mind...

A breeze from below stirred her fuku and silver hair. Inhaling slowly, she breathed the sweetness of nature that she had missed for so long. The wonderful smell of Earth. She sighed softly.

Despite the evil threat, despite the anxiety and confusion and differences, it was good to be home. Her mind cleared slowly and she found her center, unknowingly beginning to hover nearly a foot off the ground.

How long she remained like this, she had no idea. But sometime later, she was awakened from her relaxed state by the aching Feeling, which had grown to a strong throb. She landed softly on the tile and clutched her head, with seemed to split with every pulse. Majin Buu must be near.

Trying to retain her calmed state of meditation, she tried to push some of the Feeling aside as she had trained herself to do. Slowly, she got up, magicked her staff from her subspace pocket, and hurried inside to warn the others.

The air seemed to be tense within the building. She hurried toward the room where Gok... Goten and the other boy, Trunks, had been attempting to fuse.

The scene that meet her eyes was far different from when she had left it. Everyone was silent, as if concentrating on something. She called out to them. "Majin Buu--!"

"He's over the Western Capitol," said the man, Yamcha, without looking up. "Goku's trying to distract him while Trunks fetches the Dragon Radar, before Buu blows the entire place up." He looked up, a look of slight surprise on his face at Cosmos' lack of response. "Can't you sense it?"

Cosmos was confused by his question, but she refused to admit any weakness. "Ah... sense?" She asked, waiting for an explanation.

"You never learned to sense kis," said the full-grown Namek, Piccolo, who leaned on the wall. This was not a question, but a statement. Cosmos glared at his tone.

The others looked surprised, but the Namek continued. "Come, now is the perfect time to learn. Try to feel the life-forces and energy-levels of those around you and the one in the distance..."

Cosmos had her eyes shut and was trying to do as he asked. She could Feel Buu, of course, but no one in the room held enough evil that she could really feel anything else about them. She reached out in the distance, towards Buu...

Then suddenly she sensed it.

She was shocked that she hadn't noticed it before. A life-force that had skyrocketed, that seemed to be radiating raw golden power. She had never felt anything like it before. She forced herself to continued breathing.

Gradually, she noticed that there was more to this ki than its seemingly limitless power. She Felt its purity and innocence, and she began to estimate its distance away. By slight fluctuations in the energy of this ki and Buu's, she was able to tell that they were battling. And she noticed that the sky outside seemed dark and crackling with the electricity from this one power.

"What *is* that?!" she gasped. Several of the Z senshi smirked.

"That's Goku," replied Yamcha smugly. A growl from the back of the room attracted her attention as she looked up to see the scowling man that she had saved, Vegeta, angrily leave the room.

Cosmos curiously watched him leave, something not fitting together in her mind. "I do not understand," she mused, as she closed her eyes and tried to sense his ki, as she had Goku's. "He obviously seems to be very strong, perhaps the strongest in this room, and the obvious solution to the Majin Buu problem would be to create the ultimate warrior by fusing with Goku. Yet instead, the boys..." She trailed off, wondering.

The Namek, Piccolo, remained silent, Yamcha and the others looked at her like she was crazy. "You obviously don't know Vegeta," said Yamcha. "He'd never share the same body with Goku!! He *hates* Goku!"

"I prefer the term 'brotherly rival'," interrupted the blue-haired woman, Bulma, whom Cosmos recalled to be the wife of Vegeta.

"All the same," continued Yamcha with a shrug, "he'd do anything to win victory, even let himself be possessed by the enemy," the crowd shifted uncomfortably, "but he'd NEVER agree to fuse with Goku. It took a lot to even get him to allow Trunks to fuse with Goten... not until he understood that it would be his son, not Goku, that would destroy Majin Buu," Yamcha frowned.

Cosmos shook her head, still not comprehending why this man would not look behind rivalries in the face of this danger.

**********************************************

AN: Ack! Not much of an ending, gomen. But I reached a block there: What to do with Veggie? I want him to play a big part, but I'm not sure how to do this without completely altering the series. Hmm... any ideas are appreciated. Hopefully I'll work this out and get the next (longer) chap up ASAP. 

And Gomen nasi for the lack of Review Responses. I will try to put them on next time, but I'm supposed to be running out the door right now and I just want to get this up for you all. ^_^'

And finally, if anyone else was angered by what happened in Matrix Revolutions, I'm coining the new phrase "doing a JK Rowling", i.e. killing off a character (without a good death scene) for no apparent reason. I think I'm gonna try to (finally) make my Sirius's Army site a protest against any treatment from authors to characters such as this. I'll put the link on my profile if you care, but it will just be the old site until I get time to add stuff.

Thank you for your continued patience and dedication. Please review! Domo arigato! Ja ne!

~Calli-chan


	18. Fusion and Destruction

AN:  ::cowers::  Please don't kill me.  My muse fled the coop, and despite my best efforts, I could not figure out how to go on with this fic.  My most sincere apologies.  I found some saga summaries for DBZ, and they are helping a lot since my Buu info is rusty.

No more delays!  "..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted.  Read on!

..........................................................................................................................................

Goku was gone.

Cosmos was still aghast at his huge power surge.  She had never Felt, or sensed she corrected herself, anything like it.  It was incredible and unfathomable for one man to hold such power within... but then again, Goku was no man.  The other Z senshi at the Sky Palace had spoken of the dead race of the Saiyins.  Cosmos recalled that their home planet had been destroyed, but somehow Vegeta and Goku had survived!  She supposed that did explain their seemingly limitless capability for power.  But it was still mind-boggling.

Goku had disappeared, returning to the afterlife, only a half an hour after fighting Majin Buu.  He had not spoken to Cosmos, and she had not approached him or any of the figures of her past.  Secretly, she deeply feared what they would say if they knew, and how they would judge what she had become.  No, it was best to remain an anonymous strange warrior.  But in the depths of her soul, she longed to someone to recognize her, someone to know her.  It had been so long since she'd had any friends.

But Cosmos stayed out of the affairs of the Z senshi, and for the most part they stayed away from her.  She had regained most of her strength from the near-death experience when she first returned to Earth, but her soul still felt exhausted.  She spent most of her time wandering the sky palace or meditating on her own, trying to focus herself and find some weakness in Majin Buu that would lead to his destruction.

Below, most of the Earth's population had been destroyed.  The two boys, Trunks and Goten, had finally perfected their fusion.  Now as one cocky little warrior, they had tried to take on Majin Buu in their fused state without powering up to any higher level.

They returned absolutely battered.  The situation would have been laughable if it hadn't been so serious.  The namek Piccolo took them to a special room to train.  Cosmos shook her head and hoped the namek would be able to force some sense into the cocky new warrior.

Cosmos sat on the Edge of the Lookout and tried to focus her being.  But something was not right.  Something strange was happening below.  Was it Buu?  It had been several days since he had destroyed anyone...

Closing her eyes, she located Buu easily enough.  But something was very wrong with the marshmallow monster.  Cosmos gasped in shock and sat up sharply from her meditation position.  There were two Buus!

Cosmos got up quickly and hurried to warn the others.  There were indeed two Buus-- one was comprised of all the goodness and childlikeness of the monster, the other was pure evil.  The two seemed to be fighting, but the fight was ending.

Suddenly Cosmos cried out in horror and grabbed the wall of the palace for support.  The evil Buu had eaten the good Buu!  And with the increase in power from eating his counterpart, he had transformed into something even more horrible and powerful than before!  Cosmos gripped a tapestry in agony as the Feeling returned in full force, and the base of her head throbbed like never before.

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The new Evil Buu quickly arrived at the Sky Palace.  Most of the Z senshi had gathered in shock.  Even Vegeta had returned to the lookout from his sullen solitude on the wastelands of Earth.  But the Evil Buu was deadly and impatient.

Cosmos finally reached the gathering in time to see an angry mother-- Son Chichi, Goku's wife-- unwisely stalk up to Buu and release all the anger and pain she had stored up after the death of her eldest son.  She slapped him hard across the face.

Evil Buu was angry.  He had waited long enough for this "new warrior" that Piccolo had promised.  That slap was the last straw.  In an instant, he turned Chichi from human into an egg, and smashed her hard against the tile.  His anger flared and he lashed back at all the warriors around him, turning them into food, smashing them, and eating them.

Suddenly before her, Bulma was turned into a mere piece of chocolate.  In slow motion it seemed, she saw Vegeta scream and move to fight back, to destroy Buu and himself in the process.  Suddenly Cosmos had a strange premonition...

.

Buu, destroying all the warriors at the Lookout.  Buu, fighting a Gotenks that was ill-prepared for the new creature, and Buu absorbing him.  The destruction of the Lookout.  The death of all remaining people.  The return of the Supreme Kai and Gohan and Goku, without Vegeta to aid them, and all three absorbed into the monster Buu, creating the final and deadliest form, with no one left to counter him.  The death of the universe.  All because one Saiyin lashed back and sacrificed himself too early....

.

In that instant which happened in less than a second, Cosmos understood.  She grabbed Vegeta's arm before he could power up or reach Buu, and teleported to the nearest planet that entered her mind-- Mars.

-o-o-o-o-o-

He turned slowly, noticing the red landscape, and suddenly the look of confusion was replaced by a murderous face whose only intent was to destroy the one who took him away from his revenge.

"WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Vegeta as he launched at the woman.

Her look changed to horror as she quickly knelt and created a safe bubble around herself as Vegeta launched endless deadly attacks, screaming in agony.  She choked in pain as she tried to hold the bubble intact.  She hadn't expected such a violent reaction from one whose life she had now saved twice.

But then, how could she expect anything else.  His wife was murdered before his eyes, and he was intent on following her and seeking revenge.  He couldn't be thinking clearly when in such emotional agony.  She could hear him yelling to her, commanding her to fight back, but she waited patiently until he had at last exhausted himself and his insane anger subsided.

She let the bubble go and looked at him slowly.  "You must train before you sacrifice yourself needlessly," she stated logically.  The dragonballs will wish back the others."

"There will be no dragonballs once Dende is destroyed!!!!!!!" he shouted back furiously.

"Oh Kami..." whispered Cosmos in shock.  She knew of the dragonballs, but she had never realized their connection to the namek guardian.

.

Vegeta turned away.  His shoulders crumpled and he seemed to break down in pain.  "Why did you take me away?" he choked out quietly, the pain sharp in his voice.

"You stood no chance.  Our kis were no match."

"Onna, can't you hope and trust in yourself?!  How could we have survived without pushing ourselves beyond these supposed 'limits'?!"

Cosmos looked at her feet, his words slowly sinking in.  "It has been long since I've had anything to hope for," she whispered honestly.

.

Vegeta looked up slowly.  "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

Cosmos turned away from his accusing gaze.  "At times I feel I have lived a hundred lives, and one bears ten thousand memories that slice into my heart like hot knives.  And I have been forced to forget... there is so little to hope for..."

"Who am I?" she said turning quickly, her eyes shining with tears she refused to shed as she let all the pent up loneliness come tumbling out.  "I honestly don't know anymore.  I was a girl once.  I grew up on that planet," she said, pointing wildly to where Earth hung in space.  "And I loved it," she added as an afterthought.  "I had friends and people who cared for me on two worlds, and I never lacked attention or love.  But then everything changed.  I am not who I was.  No one knows me even more.  Even those I was closest to.  They called me Usagi once, or Usa-chan," she smiled softly in remembrance, "or Serenity in my supposed past life.  There were so many more names, names that I can't even remember.  But then I became this monster, this creature who must roam the universe and destroy evil.  And now I know who I am.  I am No One."

.

Vegeta was silent as a solar wind stirred the red sands of Mars.  The torrent he had released from her seemed to have been building for ages, now at last free.  Her face remained hard, but he could tell that she longed to break down and simply cry, the pitiful human response.

"Onna, you are not a no one.  If you were Usagi once in this life, then surely you are still that Usagi, even though she has changed beyond recognition."

She looked up, with a strange unreadable light in her eyes.  "How can you be sure?"

Vegeta took a stance of annoyance.  "Onna, I have gone from prince to slave to murderer to weak Earth-dweller.  Yet I still wear my name with pride.  I make my name, it does not make me."  She inhaled deeply and stood up straighter at this remark.  Vegeta continued.  "Now, if you insist upon training, you'd best take us to a planet where we can train properly.  I plan on getting my revenge as soon as possible, eliminating Buu, and then taking the Nameks' dragonballs to wish solely for my mate's return."

She looked confused.  "Where should we go?"

Vegeta glared with annoyance.  "Do not tell me that you cannot sense Goku and Gohan's kis, despite the distance.  They have reached unheard of levels, and I plan on doing the same."  Usagi focused and suddenly her eyes widened in shock.  She grabbed Vegeta's arm and teleported to the Supreme Kai's planet.

..........................................................................................................................................

.

AN:  Well, Veggie didn't know her before, but she is officially no longer incognito!  ::some scattered cheers::  She'll reveal her true identity to Goku, Krillin, and Roshi when the time is right... patience is a virtue.  "  Now, onto Review Responses!

**angelwings6117**-  eep!  SOOO sorry for the delay.  ::cowers::

**Mizz Dustkeeper**- lol, you said it!

**Moon Mage Goddess**- hehe, Cosmos will have someone eventually.  And they will understand who she is.  Eventually.  ::evil laugh::

**Jay**- doubt I'll have time to try any of these ideas, gomen!  I think they would make great stories though!  (I actually have a fic kinda like suggestion #1, in which Crystal Tokyo and Mirai Trunks' world are one in the same... hehe)

**Silver Fox28**-  hehehe!  Yes, Roshi is a perve lol.

**Shade **(crossover-to-my-world)- Oh man, I am SOOO sorry.  I didn't realize this fic put people through so much torment.  GOMEN NASI!!!!

Thank you also to:

**Namekheritage **

**dragon-wing3 **

**Fire Dolphin   **

**Kochou-hime**

**shelum **

**Moon-n-Universe-Goddess **

**Mystical Jade **

**ArikaMorance **

**Zachana16 **

**Rayne StarDust **

IcyButterflyKiss 

**lin   **

**AlyRain **

**Riuka **

**Hyper Bunny16 **

**Eo   **

**Moon-angel14 **

**angel of the white moon **

**Usagi Asia Maxwell   **

**Shadow star**

**luminia   **

Neo-Crystal 

**MysteryLady-Tx **

**Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy **

**July**

Once again, sorry that took so long.  I'll try to get the next one out sooner, but I'll be away most of the summer.  Eep!  Thank you soooo much for your dedication and patience.  Please review!  JA!

-Calli-chan


	19. Distant Training

AN: Wow, who can believe that I just missed my Fourth Anniversary with in January. O.o Four years of ups and downs, successes and failures, improvement and disasters. (Remember the days when there were no crossover sections and the only SM/DBZ fics were scattered throughout the SM section? Remember when a new chapter had to be uploaded separately, posting it as if it were a new story? Remember when the formatting was so much easier to do for these fics?)

I also missed the half-year mark from the last time I updated this fic, ack!

No apologizes are acceptable, but I am very sorry for the delay. As life picks up, the time on dwindles. C'est la vie. :( If any of you are still around and read this, I cannot express my amazement and gratitude at your patience. Special thanks to Shade, whose emails finally got me writing again. More review responses at the bottom, as always.

With no more delay, here at last is ch. 19 of "Memories of You". It too, is only nine months away from being four years old. Thank you and enjoy!

-Calli-chan

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

They reappeared for about the fifth time, now upon the small island of a marshy planet. Vegeta grabbed Cosmos' arm as she was about to teleport again.

"Onna, how long does this take! I thought you knew instant transmission! Why are you taking side-trips!"

Her concentration lost, Cosmos looked down and glared at Vegeta. "First of all, of all my names, 'onna' is NOT one of them," she fumed. "Second of all, I do NOT know instant transmission, and if you do you'd better stop making me drag you along and start helping out! This is teleportation, baka! That planet is a lot further than you might think, and though I can hop multiple galaxies, I can't go all the way across the universe with one jump! So be quiet or get yourself there!"

"At this rate, I could fly there faster than this technique," he grumbled.

With sarcasm dripping from her lips and her eyes glaring dangerously, she turned to him. "Fine, be my guest. There's several billion light-years you'll have to traverse, but no problem of course. It'll make my job easier."

Vegeta mumbled something inaudibly. "I'm saving my strength for Majin Buu," he said arrogantly.

Cosmos raised her eyebrows mockingly. "Very well, oh impatient prince of all high and mighty. We're almost there; only a few galaxies to go." With that, she grabbed his arm, concentrated on her next location, and was gone in a flash.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As Fate would have it, they arrived on the Planet of the Kais just as a flash from a distant hill signaled a newly-powered Gohan's return to Earth.

"Kakarott!" cried Vegeta as he stalked towards the hill, angry at having missed the 'training'. His cry attracted the attention of Goku and the two Kaioushins, as they turned around with surprise.

"Vegeta! Hey!" laughed Goku as he bounded towards him. Vegeta growled and continued stalking forward as Cosmos followed.

"Vegeta," smiled Goku, slapping him heartily on the back, "I thought you were still on Earth. How did you get here?"

"The onna," growled Vegeta without turning to her.

"I have a name, Vegeta."

At the sound of her voice, Goku noticed Cosmos for the first time. "Cosmos, right? Sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself properly last time," he laughed with his hand behind his head. She simply nodded with a smile, hiding any secret disappointment. "It was a bit crazy with the boys and the fusion training going on."

"Kakarott," began Vegeta seriously. "How are the boys?"

Cosmos watched Goku's face transform from childlike to aged as his smile turned grim. "Hard to say," he said gravely. "They ran out of time and were forced to end the fusion until they could gain more energy. They were trying to take on Buu at their unfused levels! With the Lookout destroyed, there're just fighting upon a wasteland…"

Goku stopped as he noticed Vegeta's gaze turn distant and steely at the mention of the Lookout, a rare but comprehendible sign in the prince. "Vegeta, we will bring them back. We will use the Namek dragonballs and wish them back as soon as it is safe—"

"And when will that be, Kakarott?" Vegeta said coldly. "As we sit here, doing nothing and waiting for your son to prove himself, how long until Buu is destroyed? Or how long until he destroys all of the earth and moves on the destroy Namek as well? Then what, oh great Kakarott?"

Standing apart from the two warriors, Cosmos raised her head curiously at the strange emotion hidden under the arrogant prince's words.

"Vegeta, I know you love Bulma, and I know you hate to admit it," Goku said with sudden passion. "I feel the same way about my ChiChi. I still can't comprehend… she's always been there…" Unnoticed, Cosmos lowered her head and a part of her heart shattered. She had failed him; she had never been there when he needed her most, it is natural that he would move on. But she'd always imagined that he'd married for duty, not for… love. Unseen and alone on a distant planet, she steeled her face and shoved her emotions away, not allowing them to dominate her actions or expressions. None could see the turmoil underneath the mask of her smile.

Goku was still speaking passionately. "But we will bring them back! If only I weren't dead!" he cried in frustration. "If only there was more I could do then sitting and waiting on this distant planet!" He banged his fist against a nearby rock, causing the rock to shatter under the force.

The Kaioushins looked up at his desperate cry. "Goku," called the elder Kaioushin, "perhaps I can help. You have proved yourself to be a worthy warrior, and your son might soon need your aid. I've been cramped up in that sword for so long that I really don't need my life anyways. Come here."

Goku approached slowly, unsure but eager to understand what the Dai Kaioushin had in store. As Goku crouched before him and closed his eyes in meditation, the old Kai began to chant some sort of magic as he waved his arms about. Suddenly at the height of the spell, the old Kai fell over dead. Younger Kaioushin let out a cry of shock, and all moved forward to see if the old man was all right.

In a moment, the old Kai sat up smiling with a halo over his head. Goku opened his eyes suddenly and stood up, feeling for a halo over his head. There was only air. The old Kai smiled at his naivety. "Now, young Saiyin, I suggest that you spar with your friend and strengthen yourself before returning to your planet."

Goku danced and laughed about. "Yippee! Thank you so much, Kaioushin-sama!" To the old man's shock, he threw the elder Kaioushin into the air and caught him, hugging him and dancing about. Cosmos could not suppress a smile at his antics, but Vegeta quickly barked for him to spar. Goku eagerly obeyed. Cosmos kept herself aloof and apart as they fought, preferring to strengthen herself in her own ways. As the Saiyins sparred and the Kaioushins observed the events on Earth, Cosmos let herself slip into meditation.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

No emotions. She would let no emotions dominate her concentration. Yes, Goku had moved on—the natural thing to do. Yes, she would have also moved on and married Mamo-chan, had Fate not intervened. After Fate followed its course, both Mamoru and ChiChi were dead, but according to the actions of their spouses, both would be given a new chance at life. However, with the help of the dragonballs, ChiChi would be returned to a life with her husband; Fate passed Mamoru and the senshi onward, to a time where they might live in peace and never meet their leader again. Like Goku and the people of Chikyuu, the senshi and Mamoru had undoubtedly forgotten her and moved on. She was alone and forgotten for eternity.

No. Focus. Beyond this unrest. Deeper…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Goku's thoughts wandered as the spar progressed at the usual intensity. He knew he should have cleared his mind and focused on the fight; his thoughts drifted from his sons on Earth to the strange Cosmos as he observed her meditating with an oddly familiar style.

"Who is she?" Goku wondered out loud as he dodged punches and kicks methodically, but didn't bother to land any. "Kaioushin was quick to trust her, of course, but what to we really know about her?"

Vegeta took advantage of Goku's distraction to gain the upper hand. He remained focused and only answered between blows. "She claims… to have been born… on the Earth of this world." Vegeta aimed a hard punch, but Goku managed to duck and spin around. They broke apart for a moment.

"This world? On Chikyuu!"

Vegeta nodded curtly and they slammed together again, fazing in and out as they battled through the air far above the surface. "Born in this world…. Sent to another."

"What about her past?" Duck, dodge, kick, faze out.

"Nothing. Has many names… that's all." Punch, block, kick, faze out, punch, slam.

"And her powers?" Block, spin, faze out.

This time Vegeta broke apart willingly as they floated in the atmosphere high above where Cosmos meditated and the Kaioushins watched over Earth. "Kakarott," his voice annoyed and angered. "Twice she has robbed me of my death. Twice! I do not like being indebted to anyone, especially not to an onna for my life! I do not know all that she can do; like you have seen yourself, she fights strangely, often relying on magic rather than strength, and battles like one not of this universe."

"She seems so familiar. The hair, I think, but it doesn't seem right. Can you think of no one like her that you may have encountered that I might know?"

Vegeta's frown deepened and his voice grew cold and dangerous. "Once, Freiza encountered a few strange onnas that fought similar to her style. We fought them, but somehow they escaped us and masked their planets as we tried to track them. Freiza was constantly returning to that area of space, never letting an opponent live, but we were never able to find the women or the planets again."

Goku's face scrunched into thought. "And these were just a few women, able to hide entire planets?"

Vegeta was clearly annoyed. "Strange onnas," he repeated, "that did not seem to comply to the laws of this universe."

Goku's face scrunched even more, if that was possible, revealing his confusion. "Magic," Vegeta stated with exasperation. Goku still didn't seem to get it; Vegeta sighed. "They appeared thin and weak, with a similar (cough) outfit as this Cosmos. Though they caused us little harm, they were very defensive and cast powerful spells that none could break."

A light seemed to dawn on Goku's face, but Vegeta did not wait for him to get it. "Enough talk, Kakakott, I've come to spar!" Vegeta flew towards him and began to fight with renewed ferocity. Goku's dazed look quickly faded as he devoted himself to the fight, knowing that the outcome of earth might depend on this exercise.

-o-o-o-o-o-

After countless minutes of a spar that no human eye could follow, Goku suddenly spoke again. "It's not the magic."

In surprise, Vegeta accidentally let his guard down a bit more than he intended, but he was able to recover before the punch could impact. "What!"

"I've just thought through all the enemies I could remember: Cell, Freiza, the Ginyu force, Raditz, all the past opponents in Tournaments… None of them used magic. Even Babidi didn't seem to use the same kind. No, I don't think that she's an enemy. But she's somehow familiar… somehow that is just off the edge of my tongue…"

"Goku! Vegeta!"

The cry came from far below, as Kaioushin's voice echoed through the entire atmosphere of his home planet. Without question, the two darted down to the surface, knowing well that the battle on Earth had changed for the worse.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"What's wrong?"

"Buu—he's too strong!" The two Kaioushins stared with horrified wide-eyes at the crystal ball. "How could he have let it come to this?" wailed the older Kai.

"What happened?" said Cosmos as she ran from her meditative area, eyes deadly and glaive in hand.

"Gohan!" cried younger Kai, and Goku instantly tensed. The five crowded around the crystal ball as they tried to understand what was happening.

"It was going excellently well," explained Dai Kaioushin gravely. "Gohan arrived and saved the day for Gotenks. He easily blew Majin Buu to pieces. But these pieces were able to regenerate, of course. Goten and Trunks fused together again, but they were not on their guard! Majin Buu overwhelmed the fused warrior and absorbed him!" The three listeners' eyes widened in shock. "Now Majin Buu has gone through more transformations and gained greater power from Gotenks. He is too strong! Gohan cannot beat him!"

"I'm going down there," said Goku, his voice steely and his eyes thin. He has his hand on his forehand and prepared to instantly transmit himself.

"Wait!" called Dai Kaioushin. "We have something that might help you." He handed Goku a set of earrings. "Alone, it may be that we can do nothing against this monster, but fused together…" He looked meaningfully at Vegeta.

Vegeta responded with a look of utter disgust. "This is a joke, is it not?" he exclaimed arrogantly. "I, the Prince of the Saiyins, fuse with _Kakarott_!" His face was incredulous. "You must be mad!"

Cosmos' face made it clear that she was in no mood for his antics. "Enough, baka! I've had enough arrogant royalty in my life," she threatened, shaking her glaive dangerously close to his face. "Admit that you're not strong enough alone, none of us our. People are dead because of this monster. We must stop him _now_, before he can destroy our planet as well."

The Kaioushins and Vegeta looked at her curiously as she spoke of "our" planet, but Goku didn't seem to hear. His eyes were still steely, dulling all pain from the potential deaths of his sons.

"Enough," he echoed, his voice nearly monotone as he clutched the earrings in his hands. "I don't have time to argue; I'll fuse with my son if need be. Gohan needs me. I'm going now."

"I'm coming," said Vegeta haughtily, and Goku touched his shoulder just as he was about to disappear. The two Saiyins vanished in an instant.

Three wise warriors were all who remained on the holy planet—two Kaioushins and Cosmos. Cosmos was clearly split and unsure whether she should undertake the long trek to follow them. She itched to do something rather than just sitting here. But her intuition showed her that she would have a part yet to play—and it would not be on Earth. She could do little but hinder what must take place on Earth; no, she must sit and watch, lending whatever energy she can and preparing for the final encounter.

"Now the waiting begins…" murmured Dai Kaioushin, as the three peered close into the crystal ball.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

AN: Ch 19- FIN

Not too bad writing it either. The main problem continues to be a severe lack of time to write anything... and I'm trying to disperse it between all my fics (though I keep favoring LotR/SM lol). Hopefully the writing will continue to come easily for this fic; if only Time would also flow freely ack.

Review Responses!

**Mystical Jade**- Yah, it was so sad when Buu killed everyone at the Lookout. Cosmos might find peace _eventually_ but not yet haha. evil!Calli

**Eo**- Yep, Cosmos will be paired with the same guy as was suggested in Part I. ;D

**Katlin Grace**- What am I going to do about Chichi? Lol, that is the reason why there will be Three parts to this fic. ;)

**Nerf-or-Nothing**- Heh. Sorry the "Time" I took did end up being months... but at least it wasn't a full year! Whew.

**angelwings6117**- Oh don't worry, no one will be able to put it all together for _quite_ a while. :D evil!Calli

**Shade**- I really can't thank you enough. You kept reviewing and emailing and hoping for more even when I was doing nothing for it. Thank you thank you thank you for your _incredible_ dedication!

**ArikaMorance**- Well, Cosmos will have the same "someone" she was with before. :D And yes, it is slow. But I want to make sure its detailed and there's some character development and I don't want to rush anything. "Now let's not be hasty, Master Meriadoc." (Gotta love Treebeard from Lotr lol)

**KuroNoTenshi**- LOL "Onna" Bulma: "?" V: "No, the other one" Haha, I may have to include that later in here :D

**shelum**- Oh no, Cosmos is a very secretive person. She won't be willingly telling anything about herself. They have to put the puzzle together.

Thank you also to:

**Neo-Crystal **

**erika**

**angel313**

**SKY UNICORN**

**Kallista Starshooter**

**Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy**

**Zachana16**

**Kochou-hime**

**AlyRain**

Thank you all for your reviews; they continue to encourage me. Apologies again for the horribly long wait. Thank you for your patience and dedication! And as always. "_Your reviews are the ink for the author's pen." _So please drop one!

Ja!

-Calli-chan

P.S. If you want to be alerted of my updates, say so in a review and be sure to leave your email. Thanks!


End file.
